Luna - All Random
by sasyst
Summary: Dota fanfiction: Luna has some strong enemies and is saved more than once by the Bone Fletcher. He is a skeleton but she likes him and they become friends fast.
1. Prolog

Dota

Luna

All Random

by Aditu

The town had two circles. An inner one, which was the safe zone, and an outer one. Both were surrounded by walls. In the outer circle was the heart of the town that held the town with all its buildings alive. It was guarded with two towers. Around the heart were several houses and barracks, all on higher ground than the area outside the town. The inner circle was only used by merchants and as regeneration point for the top soldiers, the heroes. The merchants sold mostly weapons and armour suited for everyone, who would fight for their home. And fighting they did.

They were caught in an eternal war with their neighbour town and had to defend themselves endlessly. So everyone, male or female, was trained to fight and then sent into battle. It was the only thing they could do, otherwise they would have nothing left. If the heart was destroyed, all buildings of the town would fall apart.

The main goal was to keep the heart of their town safe. And the second one was to attack the enemy, maybe even to destroy the heart of their adversary's town. But it was not easy. They had skilled fighters as well and it was an endless struggle, who would become victor of this war. You could not tell, who would win, because the two towns with their soldiers and heroes were equally strong. The balance of power always shifted a little. Depending on which hero was on the field and what items the heroes had been able to buy, the balance could shift with every fight. The heroes were hired from outside to support a town and its soldiers. Both towns were able to hire five heroes, whom they paid and who were resurrected inside of the safe zone with a delay, if they died in one of the fights.

At the present, both towns had still all their towers, in and around the high ground of the heart. There were three ways between the two towns and on each way were two towers of each fraction. And one more at the three entrances to the towns. If you wanted to destroy the heart you had to get the three towers and one way down and then the two in front of the heart. Five towers minimum. That was not easy to do, because they had some kind of self-defence system, which would start firing, as soon as an enemy soldier would get into range. Those shots hurt and could easily kill someone, if he or she wasn't strong enough.

Most times, two or three heroes would try to destroy a tower with some soldiers together, to divide the fire power between them all. That way everybody would get injured, but nobody would die. The problem here was, the enemy had soldiers as well, and heroes as strong. They had to kill them first, preferably not under the tower, but outside of its shooting range. Then they could destroy the building.

Well, it was not as easy as it sounded, obviously, since both towns still had all their towers.


	2. Chapter 1

Luna's cat Nova, on which she was riding, was panting, as was Luna. Damn, that had been way too close. Next to her, under first tower on the bottom road, the Silencer was standing and he was injured as well. The stun from the voodoo priest was a pain in the arse. And the curse he could cast wasn't any better. She healed herself a little and they remained under the protection of the tower, waiting for the next wave of soldiers. The only good thing was that the purple man without eyes, his head the shape of the head of a hammer, without a real face and a huge mace in his hands, didn't do that much damage yet. Otherwise they wouldn't have had a chance. But they needed help down here nonetheless.

The faceless man and the voodoo priest, with a staff in his hand and purple as well, his body a bit misshapen but still that of a man, were approaching again, following their soldiers, but remained outside of the shooting range of the tower. They had hardly a scratch from the previous fight, just an additional sign that Luna and the Silencer needed help from someone against the two. They were both able to do much damage and she was even able to cast a little stun herself, in form of a Lucent Beam. The Beam was a concentration of her energy, which immobilized the hit enemy for a short time and dealt damage. But when they were immobilized from the ability of the voodoo priest, Luna wasn't even able to cast the Beam.

Luna healed herself again, the Silencer did the same and together they killed the enemy soldiers, all the time wary of what the enemy heroes might do. But after their soldiers were gone they backed away a little. Luna took a deep breath. "That was close. We have to be more careful, fall back when the voodoo priest approaches."

The Silencer, a man clothed in a robe that was covered with armour on the shoulders and a helmet on his head, nodded. He always wore a grim expression, just like now, as he raised his shield and followed the soldiers, his glaive ready to be thrown. Luna followed as well but she was the one who had to be even more careful because her attack range was far shorter than the Silencer's. And she still wasn't fully healed. But the Silencer had mana again and cast some of his spells, dealing damage to the enemy heroes. They were able to get some last hits on enemy soldiers, the killing blows granting them extra gold to buy better items at one of the merchant's shops. They didn't even have to go to the safe zone and the merchants selling their wares inside of the town, because a neutral merchant was on the side of the road, not far from the place where they were currently fighting. They just had to push the soldiers far enough ahead to be able to reach the merchant, though.

The enemy heroes didn't engage again, the faceless man going back and forth, getting last hits on the opposing soldiers and then going back again to avoid more attacks. That didn't set Luna at ease, because it seemed more like they were preparing for the next attack. Or as if they were waiting for something. Her bet would be that they had some creepy ability they wanted to skill first but had to get more experience before they were able to do that. Just like her. She would be able to call an Eclipse, a form where several of her Lucent Beams would hit nearby targets without her having to cast every single one. Only the first of those beams stunned but they did much damage to the enemy. But before she would be able to skill this ability, she needed more experience, which she gained from killing enemies. Or if someone else in her vicinity killed an enemy. Though she would get more experience, if she did the killing blow, just like she would get extra gold, then.

She was nearly able to skill Eclipse when disaster struck. In no way able to react fast enough as the faceless man appeared right next to her, he cast a purple, translucent sphere over her and him. The Silencer was caught with the edge of the sphere. They were both totally immobilized and could do nothing but watch as the faceless man now started hitting at Luna and the voodoo priest began to chant something and dance, which made a ward appear next to the sphere. This ward immediately attacked her. It was only a matter of a few seconds with one hero and the ward of the other hitting her.

 _What the fuck…_

The next thing she saw was the safe zone. She sighed. Well, that meant she had just died and was now resurrected inside of the safe zone. After a delay of course. That was a shitty combination of abilities the two enemies on her road were using. She bought a Scroll of Town Portal and ported to first tower again. There she met an injured but still living Silencer.

"Sorry I couldn't help you", he said. "That sphere caught me as well. We should try to increase the space between us so that he never gets us both inside of that thing. Maybe we are able to do something, then."

"Yeah. They have bad abilities. The stun, this ward and the sphere…" Luna sighed, really not seeing how they could successfully fight against those two.

"If we last long enough I will have an ability to silence them both. We should have a chance, then. When they can't cast anything we should be able to do something. But until then we will be extra careful."

Luna nodded. They didn't have much of a choice. The only other option was to leave the tower and head to one of the two other roads to have an advantage of numbers to kill the enemy heroes there. Or to hope that someone came to help them.

But if they left, first tower would definitely fall. So they stayed, even if they were rather passive, never venturing far from their tower. They didn't get many last hits on the enemy soldiers that way but they didn't die again, either. Luna was able to buy Boots of Speed in addition to her Ring of Basilus, and had them brought by the delivery service of the merchant in town, which was called animal courier. With the boots she was able to move faster and the ring granted her a higher regeneration of the energy she needed to cast her abilities. It also heightened her armour a little.

And then, finally, she had enough experience to skill her Eclipse. She took a deep breath, feeling slightly better now. Of course, when she was stunned she wouldn't be able to cast it, but when she wasn't, she could deal massive damage. And the Silencer had his ability to stop the enemy from casting ready as well. She definitely felt more secure now but they decided it was nonetheless too dangerous to leave the shooting range of their tower. Especially since the voodoo priest shot his stun at them a few times. It didn't immobilize them for a long duration at a stretch but rather bounced between them, stunning them for a short time whenever it hit them.

"Hey Silencer", Luna called. "Do you see the faceless man?" Their soldiers were fighting a wave of enemy soldiers just outside of the range of the tower, the voodoo priest standing a few feet behind them. But the other one wasn't there. That could mean nothing good.

"No. Maybe he switched roads to get the advantage of numbers on another road, in short: to gank. We should take the opportunity and try to kill the other one. We are two against one now."

Luna hesitated. But the Silencer was right. They couldn't be that passive all the time or they would lose the damn war. That was clearly to avoid. She started forward and cast her Lucent Beam on the voodoo priest. The Silencer began casting as well, but suddenly, just as she thought they had made it, from behind the trees someone started shooting at them. The priest was retreating and Luna wasn't sure if chasing him was the right thing to do. Instead she turned left, into the woods, to get to the enemy hero who was still shooting at the Silencer. He couldn't do much except trying to run to the safety of the tower, because the shooter was hidden under the trees. Luna thought he had made it, when a powerful shot hit him right in the head, striking through his helmet as if it didn't exist, blood splattering everywhere, his body crumpling onto the ground.

Luna stopped. Shit, now she was alone, still not seeing the shooter, the voodoo priest probably around somewhere and the faceless man in the worst case in the woods as well.

She changed directions immediately, not wanting to fight against three enemy heroes. Even with Eclipse she had no chance. Her heart was pounding and sure enough, the faceless man appeared right next to her, though she had reached the tower. It seemed its safety was only a sham. And she just realized why: the sphere appeared around her, before she could even think about casting one of her abilities, and the tower was caught in the sphere as well, stopping its attacks as if it was immobilized as well.

The faceless man started hitting her but without the ward of the priest he didn't do that much damage and Luna had the hope she would be able to get away when the sphere faded. Especially since she had enough mana to cast her Lucent Beam and her Eclipse. Then the shooter started firing at her and he did _massive_ damage. Shit, but it hurt. And she still couldn't move!

 _No no no…not again!_

Suddenly the bullets stopped hitting her, only the faceless man continuing his assault. Nonetheless she was near death when the sphere finally dissolved and only wanted to head back into the safe zone to regenerate. Before she went she had to stun the faceless man though and pray that the shooter was gone, for whatever reason, and didn't wait somewhere farther down the road. She cast her abilities, the tower helping since he had resumed shooting as soon as the sphere was gone. But the faceless man jumped away, avoiding the full damage of her Eclipse and therefore still alive. Severely injured she wouldn't try to get him but head to town instead. As she was about to turn, a skeleton appeared from behind the trees. Luna tensed for a second, an automatic reflex towards a skeleton, until she recognised him as an ally.

It was the Bone Fletcher, a hero from one of the other roads. He was rather small, had horns that curved from his head down and then up again, the tips pointing upward. Between his ribs a fire was burning and making him glow in a deep yellow, his black eye sockets in stark contrast to the glow. His weapon was a bow, with which he could shoot fire arrows. He had armour on his shoulders and wrists, though Luna didn't know what use it had since he was a skeleton, and he was wearing boots.

He looked pretty fierce as he started for the faceless man now, shooting his burning arrows in rapid succession and leaving him no chance at all. He was dead within seconds, spiked with arrows, that protruded from his back as he fell forward, hitting the ground hard. (Not that he felt that anyway.) Luna was in awe. The skeleton had just achieved within seconds what she and the Silencer hadn't been able to through all their battles. And how fast he had been, his arrows nearly building one line from his bow to the faceless man! She stood, staring at the scene in front of her, admiring the speed and the precision of the Bone Fletcher. And through it all he was utterly focused and eerily silent, the only sound that of the arrows leaving the bow string. Luna was transfixed by the way the skeleton fought, filled with wonder. She had never seen anything approximately like that in her whole life.

Now he turned towards her, his gaze travelling over her, taking her in from head to toes. "You all right?"

Luna nodded. Then she shook her head, partly to get out of the almost trancelike amazement she was in and partly because she realized she _wasn't_ okay, but still near death. She wouldn't leave without thanking the skeleton archer though. She was sure he had saved her life and she felt the urge to thank him, properly. She drew nearer and dismounted her cat in front of him so he didn't have to look up at her because that seemed way too impolite.

"Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it." And she did. "You got the one shooting out of the woods as well?"

"Yes. That was easy." It didn't sound arrogant, just as if he was stating a fact. "I'm glad I could help."

They looked at each other, now nearly the same height.

"May the moon shine upon you and guide your steps. And thank you, again."

The Bone Fletcher bowed deep, his bones clacking quietly. "It was a pleasure."

Luna smiled. How sweet. He might look rather fierce but he actually seemed to be nice. In any case polite.

He straightened up again und stared at her. He didn't say anything else and didn't move, just kept looking at her with his black eye sockets. The silence between them stretched and Luna began to feel nervous under his gaze, unsure of what to do next, though she would like to talk to him a little longer. Her smile vanished.

Suddenly the skeleton stepped away from her and looked onto the ground. "Sorry, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." And he vanished into the woods, leaving a baffled Luna behind.

Had she angered him somehow? She was a little bit confused about the end of their encounter. But she still had to get into base and now the next wave of enemy soldiers had nearly reached her. She mounted her cat and they headed back into town. On their way she met the Silencer and told him in a few words what had happened. Then she was off again.


	3. Chapter 2

In the safe zone she took a relieved breath and enjoyed the feeling of her body regenerating, her thoughts drifting back to the Bone Fletcher from time to time.

She bought a Scroll of Town Portal and ported to first tower again. They still had to be careful but now that she had seen how good the Bone Fletcher was, she was rather confident that even if they weren't able to win the fights on their road, they would win the war.

The soldiers were near first tower again, as was the voodoo priest. But he stayed farther in the back now, as if to avoid their attack. And it didn't take long until the faceless man joined him again.

Luna wondered how often he could cast his sphere. He had to have some kind of cool down for his ability, just like she had with Eclipse. The mightier an ability was, the longer it took for it to be ready again. That was just the way with this kind of magic in the town wars. It was to even the powers of all heroes.

The Silencer cast his abilities and threw his glaive at the voodoo priest every time he was near but the priest had a way to heal himself and his allies, so it didn't have a real effect.

Luna got frustrated. They didn't achieve anything on their road aside from keeping them away from their tower. But that was in no way satisfying.

"Hey, Silencer. Maybe we should go to another road and try to kill the heroes there. This is stupid. And when the shooter appears in our woods again we will be easy kills for them. I think it is time for us to leave our first tower be."

The Silencer frowned. Not that he had stopped frowning at some time but now his frown deepened, leaving deep lines on his forehead and around his mouth. Right then the voodoo priest cast his bouncing stun and they had to retreat behind the tower, though it only gave them limited protection. But they couldn't do anything else, lest they wanted to die in the sphere of the faceless man again.

"Yes, let's go."

They ventured through the woods, Luna watching out for someone in their vicinity. But nobody was there, the two enemy heroes probably taking advantage of their departure and destroying first tower. On the middle road they met the Storm Spirit, but he was alone.

"The sniper has left for the top road", he said as they approached. He was firing lightning at the enemy tower, their soldiers hitting at the building. The Silencer immediately joined him. But Luna decided if three enemies were at the top road it would be better if one of them continued up there. And besides, she had the hope that she would meet the Bone Fletcher again. So she left the two men in the middle and guided her cat through the shallow stream that separated their lands from the enemy lands. It flowed from the top road to the bottom road in a straight line and by following it she would reach first tower of the enemy on the bottom or first tower of their town on the top road.

She left the stream before reaching first tower and entered the woods over a way to her right. Now she had the cover of the trees to conceal her approach. She followed the sound of fighting, always looking for a threat in the forest. When she was able to see the road, she stopped, still in the shadows of the trees, and watched the scene in front of her. The Mogul Khan was in the middle of the battle, right in front of their soldiers, eliminating the enemy soldiers. On the other side was a knight in red armour and a woman with a bow, green clothes and cape, a quiver on her back. The shooter was not in sight, as was the Bone Fletcher.

It seemed as if the Khan was doing well, since the knight didn't advance but stayed back and the female archer only took a shot at him from time to time. But they were only waiting for the right moment: the knight transformed into a big green dragon and the woman shot a special arrow at the Mogul Khan that shackled him together with some of their soldiers, so that he was unable to move and attack. Now they advanced, the dragon first, the archer following, both totally focused on the Khan. And that was their death. Just as the dragon was in attack range, Luna emerged from the woods, casting her Lucent Beam on him and stunning him. She started immediately to throw her glaives at him, the bounces here weapon made hitting the soldiers and even the archer, though she was standing further back. It didn't do that much damage yet, but it was enough to distract the woman for the merest second and to make her uneasy if she should continue her attack. She did continue but she changed her focus, now going for Luna. Luna vanished in the shadows of the woods again, just as the Mogul Khan was able to move, waiting for her Lucent Beam to be ready again.

The archer changed her focus again, shooting at the Khan now, who was attacking the dragon in front of him. Luna reappeared to help him, and as soon as her Beam was ready she cast it again. That was the end of the dragon, who was killed by a mighty blow of the Khan's axe. The archer didn't stay after that but ran to the safety of her tower. Just as Luna wondered where the shooter might be, since she had expected to see him somewhere here, he appeared behind her, shooting at her with some of his bullets causing a kind of mini stun. He was a small man, a dwarf, with a white beard and googles over his eyes. He was carrying a rifle, at the least as long as he was tall.

The Mogul Khan turned towards her, probably to help, but the archer woman hadn't retreated but chose that moment to shoot her shackle shot at him again. So Luna was alone against the shooter and it wasn't easy to get near enough for her to attack him. He had a far greater range than she, and his mini stuns prevented a fast approach. And the bullets hitting her fucking _hurt_. Maybe, if she could get near enough, she could cast her Lucent Beam again, because unless she was able to stun him for a little while, he would kill her.

Now she could see the archer woman coming from another way in her direction. Damn, she would never be able to kill one of them if she was outnumbered. Her Eclipse wasn't ready again but now she was near enough to cast her Lucent Beam. She would use it to escape because her injuries were too sever to have a chance at winning.

With the shooter immobilized, she turned to leave, though she didn't have very high hopes of escaping the two enemy heroes. She remembered too well the head shot of the sniper.

But like before, on the bottom road, the Bone Fletcher appeared just at the right moment. Luna saw him just before he started to attack and turned around, wanting to see him fight. His burning arrows left the shooter no chance and he was dead within seconds. The archer woman made use of the time the skeleton was occupied with killing another and ran away. The Bone Fletcher started to follow her, but she was unbelievably fast and he returned to Luna.

The Mogul Khan joined them as well, only skimming her with his gaze, before turning towards the skeleton. "Care to join me again?" It didn't sound like a question but more like a command. And with that he followed the way the female archer had taken, which led just behind first tower of the enemy.

The Bone Fletcher followed him with his gaze and then turned towards Luna. He only looked at her for a second, then he cast his gaze on the ground. "You okay?"

"That was the second time you saved me. I feel kind of indebted to you now."

The Bone Fletcher shifted on his feet, his bones clacking, as if he was uncomfortable with that statement. "Don't. I just didn't want seeing you die." He still wasn't looking at her but at the feet of her cat. Luna frowned. She didn't really know what to do or how to react. She wanted to keep talking to him but didn't know about what. They were involved a town war after all and you didn't _talk_ in such an event. Normally. Only the occasional discussion about further actions. But not small talk and definitely no conversations.

"Well, thank you anyway. I'm deeply grateful for your help."

A shout reverberated through the woods. "Hey Bone Fletcher, you with me? I could use someone watching my back!"

"I'm needed." The Bone Fletcher bowed slightly towards her. "Until next time." And off he was.

Luna sighed, a little disappointed about their short encounter, though she couldn't really place where that feeling came from. It was as if she had some kind of connection to the skeleton, feeling drawn to his side, curious about him and wanting to spend time with him. It was strange but maybe her body wanted to tell her that he was a good person and that she was safe by his side.

She made her way back to the safe zone. Damn, that always took so much time. She should take a Scroll of Town Portal with her next time.

The next question was: where should she go? If she went to the bottom road she might be alone against the faceless man and the voodoo priest. But they had to go there some time, otherwise they would lose all their towers to them. Maybe she should go to the middle road first and they could all three check on the bottom road together.

The Storm Spirit and the Silencer had destroyed the tower and were discussing about what to do next. They had already thought about going bottom, but hadn't wanted to go there without a third hero. So now they went into the woods, following the way down. Luna was wary again, because they didn't know what would await them at the tower. And sure enough, the tower was gone. The enemy heroes weren't there either, so they helped their soldiers. They killed several waves of enemy soldiers, always keeping an eye on their surroundings and being careful not to stand too close together. With her bouncing glaives Luna got a few last hits and was finally able to buy a Morbid Mask at the side shop. The Mask granted her the passive ability to steal health from an enemy, based on the damage she was doing, and regenerate it as her own. That meant she could regenerate now by attacking an enemy (provided that the enemy didn't do more damage than she was able to regenerate with a hit).

They pushed forward until they were under first tower of the enemies. Still they hadn't encountered anyone and Luna was getting nervous. She stayed a little behind, since she had the shortest attack range and didn't want to be the first in their line.


	4. Chapter 3

Totally undisturbed they were able to destroy the tower. That could only mean the enemy had gathered and they were now together on one road. If they were at the top road, the Mogul Khan and the Bone Fletcher had no chance. Together, without further discussion, they followed the stream to the top road. In the middle was nothing. Their soldiers were somewhere on the enemy side, their tower was still standing. So they had to be on the top road. They decided it was too risky to stay in the stream, but turned left, following a path up under some trees, passing a neutral merchant on a clearing before they arrived just behind first tower. They could see the Bone Fletcher but not the Mogul Khan. And like they had feared, all five enemy heroes were gathered in front of the tower. The ranged heroes were attacking the building but alone the skeleton could do nothing about that. He was going back and forth, shooting at the enemy soldiers to get them to follow him away from the tower.

As he saw them, he joined them. "The faceless man has already cast his sphere", he said.

"What about the Khan? Did they get him?" the Storm Spirit asked.

The Bone Fletcher nodded. "I couldn't do much against all five of them."

The next wave of soldiers passed them on their way to the tower.

Luna looked at the Bone Fletcher from the corner of her eyes, trying to find a reason for the strange pull towards him. Maybe she had known him before he had become a skeleton? But she was sure that wasn't the case. Normally she should despise all skeletons since she had to fight against them way too often in the real world.

"We go in", the Storm Spirit said, shaking Luna out of her thoughts. "I'll go for the sniper, since I can charge through the heroes up to him and then hold him in place. I hope I can do enough damage to kill him but it will definitely be enough to get him to retreat. The Bone Fletcher should try to circle around them to get them from the back. The other two should distract the others as to what I and the Bone Fletcher are doing. Ready?"

They all nodded and moved forward. First tower was nearly down, all five enemy heroes still around. The Bone Fletcher turned invisible with a soft _whoosh_ , only slightly outlined for his allies, and just walked through them until he was next to the shooter. The Storm Spirit turned into a wave of electricity and charged. He stopped in front of the dwarfen sniper and attacked him. In that same moment, the Silencer cast his spell to make all enemies unable to cast their abilities and Luna ran forward, starting her Eclipse while the enemy was confused enough not to attack her immediately. Next she cast her Lucent Beam on the voodoo priest, to hinder him from casting his ward or his stun. She threw her glaives as well, which bounced through them, killing the enemy soldiers but also hitting the enemy heroes.

The shooter was an easy kill for the Storm Spirit and the Bone Fletcher and even the voodoo priest went down pretty fast. But that was about all that they could achieve before the Silence faded and the remaining three, the knight, the faceless man and the female archer, began casting their spells. When Luna turned away from the dead priest to her feet, she saw the last hit the knight delivered to the Silencer, his sword crashing hard on his upper body and going through the thin material of his robe as if it was butter. Then he switched his focus and while turning around, he transformed into his dragon form. The faceless man was by his side and at that moment the archer released her shackle shot from her bow, hitting the Storm Spirit and the Bone Fletcher. Then they all three turned towards Luna.

They had only superficial injuries and they were three against one. So Luna didn't even think about attacking them, but ran. She followed the way down to the stream, the paws of her cat splashing through the shallow water. They didn't follow her and after a few steps she stopped. If they didn't go after her, they would try to kill the two others. Maybe they could use their skills to get away, but maybe not. And she still had a Lucent Beam to cast a stun. So she switched directions and headed back to the tower. There she saw the enemy heroes running into the woods, surely chasing her two allied heroes. She debated going after them, but she wasn't fast enough to catch them anyway. So she would have to anticipate which way they would take back to town to intercept them.

She was about to head to the stream again, when she saw someone teleporting to first tower. It was the Mogul Khan.

"This way!" She didn't look if he would follow her, just hoped he would realize what she was up to, and headed for one of the ways that lead out of the enemy woods down to the stream. And really, the Storm Spirit emerged. But alone. He was badly injured but since no one was following him, he would be able to make it to the safe zone. She ventured forth, now hearing the Khan behind her. She entered the woods on the right way and he on the left way. That's when she saw them. The Bone Fletcher was just circling back to get to safety. He was invisible but something was clinging to his body, making the enemies able to see him though he had cast his ability. It had to be a powder the merchants sold, one to outline invisible enemy units. He was nearly dead, the archer right at his back, running at high speed and drawing her bow string back to deliver the final shot. At the same moment Luna was near enough to reach her. The Bone Fletcher passed her but stopped only a little behind her, as if he didn't want to leave her alone against the enemy, though he was severely wounded and she not.

Luna cast her Lucent Beam on the woman, stunning her before she could release the arrow. As the two others advanced, the faceless man jumping right in front of her and the dragon spitting fire on her, the Mogul Khan appeared. He rushed next to them and shouted some kind of battle cry that made the faceless man and the dragon attack him instead of her. Luna threw her blades, which did way more damage without soldiers surrounding the heroes. The faceless man was cut down by the powerful hit from the Khan, instantly killing him though he had not been _that_ near to death. As they both switched their focus to the dragon, the Bone Fletcher joined them again, though he remained in a safe distance, so the female archer wasn't able to get to him. The dragon turned and wanted to retreat, but somehow the Khan had made them able to move faster and they were able to follow him.

The archer woman had used the skill that made her super-fast to escape and when they were nearly under second tower of the enemy they decided to let the dragon go. It would gain them nothing if they died because they didn't know when to stop chasing.

The Bone Fletcher was still with them, though he was in dire need of regeneration.

Without a word to one of them the Mogul Khan went to the top road to kill the soldiers there and Luna and the Bone Fletcher were alone in the forest. The skeleton turned and headed back to town without a word.

Luna followed him. She wanted to regenerate as well before she headed out again. And that _was_ the only reason why she followed the Bone Fletcher.

They entered the town and still the skeleton hadn't talked to her or even acknowledged her. She began to feel uneasy. Of course she didn't know him that good, but she _had_ helped him. He could at least look at her.

In the safe zone he turned away from her and began browsing through the wares of the merchants. He didn't buy anything so it seemed more like a way to dismiss her.

It shouldn't be important, since the Mogul Khan had ignored her as well, even after she had helped him. But she had talked with the Bone Fletcher and he hadn't acted like that before. Something had happened and she could by no stretch of her imagination say what it was that made him ignore her.

She was confused and unsure about what she should do but when he wanted to leave the safe zone, still without looking in her direction, she acted. "Wait!" She jumped from her cat, discarding her weapon and her shield, and, as the Bone Fletcher didn't stop, she ran after him and grabbed his arm.

He stopped and spun around and when he looked at her now, she could _feel_ that he was furious. Involuntarily she took a step back, releasing his arm. His anger seemed to radiate from him in waves, and it was solely centred on her. Shit, what had she done to cause such kind of rage towards her?

"What?" he snapped at her. Luna was totally baffled. He had been so nice to her. She frowned. "What is wrong with you? I have done nothing to make you angry. I have helped you. You _could_ be a little nicer."

The Bone Fletcher stared at her for a moment. "Well, don't help me." Then he turned away again. "Not help you?" Luna looked at his back incredulously. "Of course I will help you again! How can you be mad at me for _that_?"

It only took a second for him to stand in front of her, their faces on one level, his black eye sockets fixed on her, his horns almost touching her head. Luna stared back. She wouldn't be intimidated by him and she definitely wouldn't back down. He couldn't just order her not to help him in a fight. She was the Moon Rider, a warrior of the Goddess of the Moon, a guardian of the Nightsilver Woods!

Slowly his anger seemed to leave him as his gazes roamed over her face and then locked with hers. But he was still standing rather close and it was strange to look at a skull that was attached to a somehow living creature. It didn't disturb her as much as she would have thought, though. He stepped away from her, bringing a little distance between them. Then he cast his eyes onto the ground, like before. As if he didn't want to look at her. Or as if he thought _she_ didn't want to look at him.

"I'm sorry I scared you", he said. Before Luna could contradict him, he continued. "It seems I can't see you getting hurt. I lured them away from you, so you could escape. And when I saw you running alone directly into the three of them, I was shocked. The thought of you injured or worse, dead, makes me panic. When they attacked you it was as if I could feel their blows, only much worse, somewhere inside me. Damn, I gave you the possibility to escape and you just came back!" He was looking at her again, as if he had forgotten to keep his eyes cast down while he was talking.

And Luna was baffled. He had been angry at her because he was worried about her? She was unsure if she should be angry that he thought so little of her fighting skills or flattered that she mattered that much to him, when he turned to leave.

Luna called after him, and this time he did stop. She walked around him to face him. "I don't really know what to say." Her voice was soft. It seemed her mind had decided she should be flattered rather than offended. And now that she let his words sink in, they brought some unfamiliar warm feeling with them that spread through her body. She smiled, because somehow it was just so sweet how he was worried about her, how he put the value of her life so much above his. If he felt such a need to protect her while she had the urge to be near him maybe they did have some kind of connection.

When he still didn't look at her, she raised her hand and, with just the tips of her fingers, touched his cheekbone. The Bone Fletcher lifted his eyes. Luna's fingers lingered for a second, feeling the smooth surface of the bone through her thin gloves. She wondered what he had looked like before he had become a skeleton. He had sharp canines and small horned appendages on his chin and of course the horns on his head. But the rest of him spoke more of a human then of some kind of beast. Goddess, she was suddenly very curious about the skeleton.

"You know I'm here to fight, just like you. I can't stay back and try not to get hurt all the time. Besides, we will be resurrected, so it isn't such a big deal. But if it makes you happy, I will try to be more careful. I can't promise anything, though. And I definitely _can't_ promise not to get hurt or to die."

If skeletons could sigh, the Bone Fletcher would have done so. But he nodded.

Luna was not completely happy with the result of their conversation, but this time she let him go. She couldn't do more and she would never quit fighting only because someone else wanted it. As sweet as she thought his worry for her was. She was no simpering maid in need of rescue, she could well defend herself. She retrieved her weapon and shield and mounted her cat.


	5. Chapter 4

Luna headed for the bottom road to check on second tower. A wave of soldiers appeared in front of her and she followed them. They encountered the enemy soldiers near the place first tower had been and she killed them. Then, not wanting to be on the road alone, she headed into the woods. She knew that some beasts lived under the trees and by killing them she would gain experience and gold, because they counted as last hits like the enemy soldiers and heroes, so she got the extra gold for killing them. She moved in the direction of the middle road, eliminating all beasts she saw on her way.

On the middle road she met the Storm Spirit and the Silencer. They were helping their soldiers to get to second tower of the enemy. The Silencer was a little farther back, since the Spirit was able to escape. If he wasn't stunned. But he seemed confident enough to be able to get away.

Since no enemy heroes were on this road, either, they would have to be at the top road again and Luna passed the two, following the stream further up. "We should head top all together!"

The Silencer joined her and the Storm Spirit promised to charge in their direction in a few seconds. The Silencer suggested they go through the enemy woods, so they left the stream and travelled in the shadows of the trees. Soon they could hear the noise of fighting. They slowed down, not wanting the enemy to see them too soon and draw the attention to them in case they were alone. But out of reach of the shooter and the archer woman was the Mogul Khan and suddenly the Bone Fletcher appeared beside them.

"The Storm Spirit will be here in a second as well", the Silencer said. "We can go in. I have my Global Silence ready. We should focus on the faceless man and the voodoo priest, since they have the most dangerous spells. When we kill them while they are unable to cast their spells, we should have no problems with the others."

"I will attack on the flank again. I'm ready when you are." The Bone Fletcher went invisible and drew near them, just outside of the vision range of the tower, because the building would detect him.

The Khan moved forward and just as the faceless man rushed at him, the Silencer cast his spell and the Storm Spirit charged in, like before focusing on the dwarfen sniper. The Bone Fletcher started attacking the voodoo priest and Luna cast Eclipse, jumping right in the middle of the fight, to get the most hits at the enemy heroes. She knew the Bone Fletcher looked in her direction from time to time, maybe checking on her. When the female archer and the knight directly went for her, she still had one Lucent Beam to disable one of them. And then, as fast as she had gone in, she left the fight, retreating into the woods and hiding in the shadows, to elude the attacks that were concentrated on her. Not solely retreating because she had promised the Bone Fletcher to be careful, but surely partly because of it.

The Mogul Khan was fighting against the faceless man and now that Luna had left the battle, the Silencer was the new focus. That hadn't been Luna's intent, but now it was too late.

The voodoo priest was dead before he could cast a spell. The sniper was trying to get away, but the Bone Fletcher was faster and together with the Storm Spirit they got him as well. When they turned to the fight again, the Silencer was already dead and since they hadn't killed the faceless man, he was able, in that moment, to cast his sphere. The knight transformed, and now all three were attacking the immobilized Khan. Luna didn't go in there alone, because they would kill her within seconds, probably even before she could do anything. But when the Storm Spirit and the Bone Fletcher passed her, she followed. She had her Beam ready and, even if they had originally wanted to take the faceless man out _before_ he could cast his sphere, she still focused on him.

They were too late to save the Khan, but in the end only the archer woman got away with her running-super-fast skill because it enabled her, in addition to the speed, to evade all physical attacks. All three of them were out of mana and injured, so they returned into town without destroying the tower. Maybe the soldiers would be strong enough to do that, otherwise they would try it next time.

The Storm Spirit headed out as soon as he was healed. The Bone Fletcher shifted on his feet. It seemed he wanted to talk to her, so Luna dismounted her cat. She didn't like to look down at the skeleton.

"You were right," he said as she stood in front of him, looking at her feet rather than in her face. "I can't expect you to stop fighting. It's just that I want to protect you and knowing I can't do that in this war drives me crazy. But I apologize for being angry at you, that was totally unacceptable. And I honour your promise to be careful. I know you can't avoid getting hurt and possibly also not dying in one of the battles. I also have to say that after seeing you fight I'm more at ease. You are good."

Luna smiled. It seemed they were kind of meeting in the middle, she being more careful and he recognizing her claim to fight like the others. But there was still one thing. "Bone Fletcher, why don't you look at me but at the ground when we talk?" It was making her crazy that he avoided her gaze like that. As if he didn't want to look at her.

Something like a shrug. "Normally I don't care, but it makes people uncomfortable when I look at them. Since I'm a skeleton and don't have eyes and such. So I tried to avoid it with you."

"It doesn't make me uncomfortable. If anything it confuses me when you avoid eye contact."

He did look at her then, slowly. And goddess, she really would like to know what he was thinking. Sad that a skeleton was missing all facial expressions. And again she wondered how he had looked as a living man. And how he had happened to become a skeleton.

But she had told him the truth: she didn't feel uncomfortable although there were only two black holes where his eyes should have been. She smiled at him, to reassure him and it seemed as if his gaze dropped to her mouth. She couldn't be sure, but it felt as if he was staring at her lips. Suddenly self-conscious, certainly because she couldn't read him, she bit on her lower lip.

The Bone Fletcher whirled around suddenly and headed for the middle road. "Come on Moon Rider, let's look where the Storm Spirit went."

Luna jumped on the back of her cat and followed. He waited at the entrance to the town.

"My name is Luna." It wasn't normal to be called by name in one of these wars, but she liked the Bone Fletcher. He was polite, friendly and he cared about her, for whatever reason. So it seemed to be the right thing to tell him her name.

"Luna," he repeated and bowed. "I am honoured to be permitted to call you by your name. I am Clinkz."

Then they went on to first tower. The Bone Fletcher, _Clinkz_ , parted from her to scout the woods. He used his invisibility to remain unseen and give them vision to the side or to the front. He just had to be aware of the fact that the enemy had this powder to make him visible. But they would only use it when they knew he was near. Otherwise the powder would be wasted because it worked only in a small area around the point from where it was thrown into the air.

The Storm Spirit was on the middle road, but the enemy tower was gone and it was risky to push further on without their two allied heroes. Since Clinkz could scout they went for second tower anyway. The Silencer joined them, but the Mogul Khan was on his own again. It seemed he was of the opinion he was a one man army and didn't need their help. Well, they didn't share his opinion and decided to go for first tower on the top road before pushing the middle any further.

They followed Clinkz through the enemy woods, the Silencer being the last in the row, so as not to die again. It was like a déjà vu. The enemy was at the same place like before, as was the Mogul Khan. But if they attacked, they should try to get the faceless man first, this time. They couldn't afford to let the Khan and the Silencer die in every fight. So Luna would pair up with the Mogul Khan, so that they could together take him out. If they timed their abilities right, they could disable the faceless man long enough to kill him. The other three would this time go together for the voodoo priest and then the sniper. The Silencer would stay behind the enemy, more between their first and second tower and not go into the middle of the fight like last time. This way they would attack on two sides, dividing their attention. Hopefully it would work.

Luna took her place right behind the Mogul Khan. Now she couldn't see what the others were doing, but the two of them were ready. They were a little limited, since her Eclipse and the spell of the Silencer weren't ready, but they hoped the enemy had the same problem.

The Mogul Khan and Luna advanced the enemy heroes. The nearest was the knight, but they ignored him, going for the faceless man right behind him. The female archer was with the knight again and though Luna had wanted to cast the Lucent Beam on the faceless man it seemed important to disable the woman first, since she could disable them. At the same time the Khan was near enough to shout his war cry, which made the faceless man attack him but unable to cast any spells. Luna switched her focus on him as well, impatiently waiting for her Beam to be ready again. But it didn't go that good, because the archer used her shackle shot to immobilize the Khan and Luna and the knight, who had switched to his dragon form, started attacking them as well. He stunned the Khan, but focused his other attacks on Luna. When she could move again, she had to decide on whom to cast her Beam: The dragon, to stop his attacks on her, the archer, who would be able to get away anyway with her running skill, or the faceless man, which would gain her nothing but would help the Khan make a kill. Though it went against keeping herself save, since the dragon would continue attacking her, she cast her spell on the faceless man. Then she rushed her cat forward, trying to get away from the dragon by going in the direction she knew the other three must be. But she was way too slow and the Mogul Khan was focused on the enemy in front of him, delivering the killing blow with a jump, bringing his axe down hard.

Luna was under the enemy tower now and could already see the other three heroes when the archer released a powerful shot that went through her body with its force. Damn it, she really hadn't wanted to die. And since she had seen the others, Clinkz would have seen her, too.


	6. Chapter 5

When Luna appeared in the safe zone, still (or again) mounted on her cat, Clinkz was there. Luna took a deep breath and looked at her chest, where the arrow had left her body by causing a bloody hole. Of course it had vanished with her resurrection. She shuddered nonetheless.

"I'm sorry," Clinkz said. He was emanating waves of anger again, but this time they seemed not to be directed at her. She could feel his fury but it did feel different then last time. "Whatever for?"

"Because I wasn't there to help you. It took longer than we anticipated getting the two enemy heroes and I wasn't fast enough."

Luna smiled. "Don't be sorry for that. I know you would have been there if you could. But more important, did you get them all?"

"Yes." His fury seemed to grow stronger and she thought it might be directed at the enemy or maybe at himself for not being able to help her. "They didn't have a snowball's chance in hell. And I will make sure they never get near you like that again. I will kill them all, again and again." The fire inside his chest was burning brighter with every word he spoke, his eye sockets getting even darker and though it wasn't possible, he looked fiercer, deadlier then before.

Luna furrowed her brows. That level of fury couldn't be good. Especially since she was alive and although it hurt and was disturbing to no end to die, it was not _that_ bad. At least you knew you would be resurrected in the safe zone.

"Clinkz," she said and dismounted. Her weapon and shield were abandoned on the ground and she approached him. His gaze seemed intend, totally focused on her every move while he remained utterly still. _A penny for your thoughts._

She stopped when the bow of his horns where right in front of her. Like before she raised her hand and laid her fingers against his cheek bone. She let them there while she stared at him, not in the least disturbed to touch naked bone. It was _Clinkz_ she was touching, not a skeleton.

"I'm all right. Don't let that anger take hold of you." Her voice was soft and gentle, wanting to take that burning fury away from him, to make him not focus like that on killing. It seemed wrong, not the focus he should have in his life, or in his death, or whatever state he was in. It somehow hurt her to see him like that and she wanted to soothe him, to make him understand it wasn't necessary to be like that.

"They killed you!"

It was really sweet that it mattered to him that much. "Elune will smile on you, like she smiles on me, for your loyalty towards me. We will get them, but not with anger in our hearts. This is a town war, a war we are going to win, but not when it's a personal vendetta. They didn't kill me out of personal dislike. It was only coincidence, me at the wrong place at the wrong time. In the following battles our minds have to be sharp and our eyes unclouded by the wish for vengeance. We can stay closer together, if it gives you more peace of mind. But if you keep the fury inside of you, you can't focus on what is right in the battles and it will eat you from the inside out." Her fingers were still lingering on the side of his face and her smile that had vanished during her speech reappeared. Clinkz hadn't moved an inch, was still staring at her and she decided to make a different approach. "And I definitely like your polite and friendly side more than this angry and hateful one." Her smile turned into a grin, her eyes sparkling and she tapped her fingers against his cheekbone. "You are absolutely adorable when you bow like a gentleman and I would absolutely prefer you spend some time with me, polite and friendly like before, instead of leaving me alone to go on a hunt." She leaned a little closer. "How about we get to know each other a little since you have some strange need to protect me and I have some strange urge to be near you though we now nearly nothing about each other. Doesn't that sound nice?"

And finally Clinkz relaxed, the tension leaving him, the fire burning lower and the anger she had felt against her skin was dimming. It wasn't completely gone, but it mustn't. It should only be at a level where he could think clearly again and where he could see something else then vengeance. Because Luna liked the skeleton and she wanted to _talk_ to him from time to time in the ebbs of the war.

With her thumb she stroked across his cheek bone and then let her hand drop to her side again.

"No one has ever called me adorable. Not even at the time before I was a skeleton. You have a strange vision of the things around you. But it is refreshing." He took a step back and bowed. "Thank you. This anger lingers inside of me since I burned in the hellfire of the demon I have slain and sometimes it is hard to control. But let's head out. The others have destroyed the tower and then split to kill the beasts in the woods, first at the top road and then at the bottom. We are to meet them there to get the next tower." He hesitated. "You have the urge to be near me?"

Luna shrugged. She didn't know where that urge came from and what it meant. "Kind of. But let's go." Luna got her weapon and shield and bought the remaining items to upgrade her boots into Power Treads. They would grant her higher attack speed and more strength in addition to the movement speed.

"You were burned by the hellfire of a demon?" she asked as they were following the road, curious. "Are you dead, then?"

"No. There was a spell on the demon, to grant the one who killed him eternal life. But exactly at the second I let the arrow loose, which killed the demon, it spit its hellfire at me. So the spell came to work while I was burning. I look the way I do now because I was granted the eternal life after everything except my bones had burned. There was a time where I was really angry at the mage who had cast the spell without telling me but in the end it isn't that bad. I have eternal life after all. Even if I'm a skeleton now."

"When this mage was able to evoke such a spell why couldn't he give you your body back?"

"I don't think he wanted to do it. But in truth I never asked him. He is dead now anyway."

"You killed him?"

Clinkz laughed. "You have a rather high opinion of my skills. No, I didn't do it. It was some other mage. I would have done it but at the time I wasn't nearly strong enough. The only thing that gave me an advantage was that I couldn't be killed. Or that I wouldn't stay dead. And later I wasn't _that_ angry anymore."

"Have you never considered asking another mage? Someone has to be able to give you a body again." Luna couldn't imagine how it would feel to be alive but to have no body, only the bones remaining. It must have been really strange at the beginning for Clinkz to live like that. And she didn't think that an eternal life was worth living like that.

"Yeah, some could do it, but the price they want for something like that is far too much I am willing to pay. So yes, I did consider asking but there it stopped. Why, you prefer a man to a skeleton?"

The question was asked in a light tone, but Luna could feel there was more to it than Clinkz let on. Her answer was important to him. But she didn't want to lie to him. They were getting along astonishingly good for a Moon Rider and a skeleton and she felt the need to be honest. But she also felt something deeper, like a blooming friendship, an attraction between them, totally in conflict with their races. But if she had to be true, Clinkz wasn't a typical skeleton. He wasn't dead but had had the misfortune to be caught by a not very thought-out spell. So maybe she could say that he didn't belong to the skeletal race.

"Well, there are definitely things about a man that a skeleton lacks, so generally I would say I prefer a man to a skeleton. But I have not often met a man who was even partially like you, so even if I prefer a man to a skeleton, I prefer you to most men I have met so far."

Clinkz stopped dead in his walk. "You only say that to be nice to me. Because you think you owe me."

Luna turned towards him. "No, that's not true. Yes, I think I owe you, but I owe you my life, or let's say my life in this war, and that has nothing to do with what I tell you. I would rather pay my life back with saving yours and not by lying to you about some question you ask me. Because how would that pay my debt to you?"

He was still staring at her as if he just couldn't believe what she was saying. "Hell, you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever met."

Luna laughed. "You are exaggerating." She continued on her way, still smiling. When Clinkz had caught up with her again, they could already see the others. He went invisible and turned into the woods on their right side, since they had only little vision into the shadows on this side and thus were vulnerable to an attack into their side.

The Mogul Khan was at the front together with the Storm Spirit. The Silencer stayed further back so that he was able to cast his abilities when the fight began.

The faceless man was coming in their direction. He stopped under the trees where they normally wouldn't see him and waited, possibly for the others from his team. But Clinkz had spotted him and the Silencer and Luna, the other two were more focused on destroying the enemy tower, decided to get him. They had to be fast, though, and kill him before the four remaining enemy heroes appeared and before he could cast his sphere. The Silencer approached first and immediately cast some of his abilities. Next Luna used her Lucent Beam while going closer to get into range of her glaive. And just as he started to move again Clinkz did something to prevent him from casting spells, too. Like the silence from the Silencer. That was new and Luna was sure he hadn't been able to do that before. But that did the trick. The faceless man started for Luna and even got two solid hits on her, but it was in no way enough to kill her. Though the burning arrows were doing the most damage, it was one of Luna's glaives which did the last hit and sliced through his artery, making blood splatter and colouring the purple of his skin in a dark red.

It earned her enough gold to finish the Helm of Dominator she wanted to build so she bought the Helm of Iron Will, the missing peace to finish the item, and let it be stored in town until she had time to get it. The Helm of Iron Will granted her more armour and upgraded the Morbid Mask.

That had been easy. And the Storm Spirit had just destroyed the tower, which meant additional gold as well. They discussed briefly if they should push or head back but the Mogul Khan was already killing the next wave of soldiers, not looking as if he was even contemplating to go back, so they stayed with him.

Just as Clinkz wanted to scout again, a shackle shot was fired from the woods, followed by the bouncing stun of the voodoo priest. The Mogul Khan was far enough ahead not to be affected but the other four were caught in the attack. Next the dragon left the shadows of the trees and the shooting ward of the priest was placed on the road, though they didn't see the priest. It started firing at Clinkz, which was their luck since he went invisible and when the ward switched to the next target, the Silencer, he was able to cast the spell that silenced all enemy heroes. It cancelled the ward. And the dragon couldn't stun one of them, as he had clearly wanted to do.

Then Luna was able to move again and she activated Eclipse while running in the direction of the woods, passing the dragon and looking for the priest. As soon as she saw him he was immobilized by her Lucent Beam and she attacked him. She counted on the Silencer and the Storm Spirit to defend her back against the dragon and Clinkz helping her at the front. And just as she had expected, he was on the other side of the priest, blocking his way and killing him with only a few of his arrows. Together they started to look for the shooter and the archer woman, but it seemed they had left the battle field, knowing they had little chance against all of them. When they turned, they saw the dragon, still alive, trying to escape. He had no chance.

The Mogul Khan, totally undisturbed by the fight at his back, was hacking at the tower when they joined him.

"That was easy," the Storm Spirit said, grinning. "When all fights go like that we will win in no time."

Together they destroyed the tower at the entrance of the town as well as the two barracks behind it. The shooter and the archer were there and they fired at them, all the while staying out of reach. But after the barracks were destroyed they headed back because the other heroes would be resurrected soon and even if they were not badly injured they wanted to regenerate before they had the next fight.

The Storm Spirit charged as far as he had mana and walked the rest of the way back into base. The Silencer bought a Scroll of Town Portal and used it to port directly into the safe zone. The Mogul Khan went into the woods to slay some of the beast there. Which left Luna and Clinkz.

"Come on, let's check on the other roads. I can scout ahead so that we are not surprised by the enemy but can kill the enemy soldiers." Clinkz said.

Luna nodded and together they took the way down to the stream.


	7. Chapter 6

Luna and Clinkz ran through the shallow water up to the middle road. They could hear the fighting soldiers and followed the sound, going in the direction of the enemy town. After killing the enemy soldiers they circled back and then went into the woods at the top road. It was more likely to meet an enemy hero here than in the woods at the bottom road, but they stayed alert and killed the beasts under the trees while heading to the top road to check on their first tower there.

The soldiers were far away from first tower, having nearly reached second tower of the enemies, so they decided to go back. Maybe they would be able to win a fight against the dwarfen sniper and the female archer, but they didn't want to risk it. While they followed the road back to town they talked. In the woods they had to be silent to hear if somebody was approaching, but now they were relatively safe.

"How comes you are serving the Goddess of the Moon?" Clinkz asked.

"She has chosen me. It is a long story but to make it short, my cat Nova," she lightly patted its neck, "lured me into the Nightsilver Woods, though at the time I didn't know that name. That's where the guardians of the woods found me and declared that I had been chosen by the goddess herself and that I had the choice of pledging myself to her or leave and never return. It wasn't a hard choice. And since then I'm one of Her ever-loyal guardians, protecting the woods and all creatures within. I am the blade of the goddess. The cat returned to me at some time and now she is my companion." Luna smiled, petting the black fur of the animal she was riding.

"Have you ever seen Her?"

"The goddess?" Clinkz nodded.

"Yes, I have met Her. She isn't that reclusive though She doesn't like to meet strangers. She doesn't manifest with a real body but in an ethereal form, surrounded by the light of the moon. She always has time to talk with us if there is a problem, even though she is a goddess, and she makes sure we are protected as much as possible."

"You like being in Her service?"

"Yeah, I do." She smiled. "She is calm and gives off that vibe of peace. She is our steady centre, the one we can always rely on. One _I_ can always rely on."

"She is a good leader, then."

"Yes, that she is. But she has chosen a leader for us from our ranks, the high priestess Tyrande, to do the actual leading, since the goddess doesn't engage in battle. She loathes violence, but since we don't have much of a choice when protecting the forest, we just try not to involve the goddess herself."

They entered the town and went to the safe zone. Luna was able to buy the first items for a sword enhancement called Yasha. It would make her quicker when attacking while increasing the damage of her glaives. Since they bounced from enemy to enemy, the damage increase would gain her much.

The others had already departed again but since they hadn't met them on the top road they surely would try to destroy second tower on the middle road. The two of them left the town in that direction.

"What have you done before you became a skeleton?" Luna asked.

"I was a protector of my land, just like you are now. But my liege wasn't a god or goddess but the mage who inflicted the magic on the demon I killed. He was our king. "

"How long ago was that?"

Clinkz looked at her from the side. "So long I have stopped counting the years."

Luna raised her brows. "Trying to brag about your lifespan?"

"I didn't know that was something to brag about."

Luna laughed. "Of course it is. It says something about your ability to survive. But since you can't die maybe it isn't the same."

"And how long have you served the goddess?"

She was still grinning and looking at him. "Ha, as if I would talk about my age!"

"Not so old then? And don't want to say it because it says nothing about your ability to survive?" His tone was a little teasing and Luna was delighted that he would play with her.

"No, but with women it is just the other way round. For who wants a female who is over thousand years old? That leaves the image of a wrinkled and crooked shrew, don't you think?"

"So you are over thousand years old? Well," he let his gaze travel her body up and down "I don't see any wrinkles and you don't look crooked to me. Maybe I have something with my eyes, then?"

"Yeah, it looks as if you don't have any."

Clinkz stopped and in an overly dramatic gesture put his hand on his face, as if searching for them. "Oh no, I don't have eyes?" His fingers reached the empty sockets. "You are right, I have no eyes! I must have lost them somewhere. I have to find them!" He started to look on the ground, as if searching, then up again. "How can I find them if I can't see? Oh wait, how can I see _you_ if I can't see?"

Luna shook her head. "You are odd."

"What? Now I'm odd? I thought I was adorable! Damn," he muttered, "I have lost my favourite description of me."

Luna laughed again. It was kind of funny that he could joke about him being a skeleton. Though it was odd. But it also spoke of him having made peace with the fact. Like he had said, he didn't seem to be angry at the mage who had cursed him anymore. But she was sure it hadn't been easy for him and had taken a lot of time. It seemed, though she was old, he was way older.

Clinkz stared at her, all playfulness gone. But rather did he seem tense all at once. Luna frowned. "What's wrong?"

"You are unbelievably beautiful when you laugh. When you smile it is as if a light is shining that chases away all the shadows that linger around. Until there is nothing left of those shadows and I wonder why the hell I have just been angry. Or desperate. Or why I wanted to kill someone when I could just stand and stare at your smile."

Luna was momentarily speechless. Then she smiled. "Wow, that was really, really sweet. I think you are up to being adorable again."

Clinkz gave a short laugh, and then shook his head, his bones clacking. "God help me, but I think I'm falling in love with you."

Luna stood rooted to the spot, blinking in absolute surprise, while he turned and ventured on, as if he hadn't just declared to be falling in love with her.

She followed him, still a little thrown off by the statement.

Clinkz was in the woods to her left and she could see the soldiers ahead of her. They were near second tower of the enemy. She joined the fight while Clinkz drew circles around her, looking for enemy heroes. They had to be resurrected by now and Luna wanted to head back before they appeared. But they had a few seconds and she used the time to help their soldiers to destroy the tower. As the building fell she backed away, looking for the skeleton. But he was already at her side and together they retreated. No use in trying to go against five enemy heroes.

On their way back they met the other three. Since the tower on the middle road had fallen, that only left the top road. So they headed there. They went through the woods to kill the beasts there and left the shadows of the trees at the point where first tower of the enemy had been. Their soldiers were a little farther back and the Storm Spirit would help them while the others would wait a little further up the road to catch the next wave of soldiers.

Clinkz hadn't left the woods but was keeping an eye on their surroundings, so the enemy couldn't surprise them by appearing on their flank.

They got the next tower down without any difficulties and without seeing even a glimpse of an enemy hero. It made Luna a bit uneasy and she was getting nervous. They were planning something for sure and she didn't like it one bit. They wouldn't give up but come up with a strategy to go against them.

They pushed forward to get the next tower, the one at the entrance of the town, as well. Luna looked around, searching for a sign of danger. Her nervousness transferred onto her cat, which whipped with her tail and growled low in her throat. It felt like a trap.

And damn it, it was one.

As soon as they got near the tower, they didn't have any vision forward, because the town was on higher ground and everything on the platform was in shadows. But they could be seen from above.

They were gathered in front of the town, only Clinkz was standing a little to the side. But he was still too close to the walls of the town when the attack started.

The first thing Luna noticed was that the sniper was shooting at the skeleton. Somehow he saw him even though Clinkz was invisible and because he had a really long shooting range, he was able to hit him even outside of the town.

Just as she wanted to do something (she didn't know what, because she wouldn't be able to see the dwarf inside of the town, either) the faceless man jumped into their middle and before the Silencer had realized what was happening, the purple sphere froze them all in place. They were all four caught inside and unable to do anything. Clinkz had moved back and now approached them, aiming for the faceless man, who had started attacking the Silencer at high speed. It took only seconds for the faceless man to kill him. It happened so fast, the other heroes spilled out of the city only when the faceless man turned towards his second victim, Luna.

Clinkz started shooting as soon as he was near enough but then it was already too late for the Silencer, whose lifeless body still hung in the sphere. And though his burning arrows hit in incredibly fast succession, it wasn't enough before the others were on him.

The voodoo priest placed the shooting ward, which attacked the Storm Spirit. Just as the sphere vanished and Luna was finally able to move again, the bouncing stun hit her. She wanted to scream in frustration, because she could do nothing! The Storm Spirit, nearly dead, saw the futility of the fight and charged away. With nearly all his mana, since he hadn't used much of it, he was able to get far enough away to be safe. No one had attacked the Mogul Khan until then and now he joined the fight. Luna had no illusions about them being able to kill all five enemy heroes but she wanted to get at least one of them.

The knight, the archer woman and the shooter were still focused on Clinkz though it would only keep them occupied for another second because though he was invisible, he was shackled and they could see him. With his escape ability cancelled he had no way of getting away.

Luna had the desperate wish to save him but even if she was able to get to him fast enough she didn't have an ability to stun all of them. That meant one of them would get him regardless of what she would do.

The faceless man was still attacking her and his hits were damn painful. She cast her Lucent Beam on him, and then left him for the Mogul Khan to deal with. As she turned around the archer woman knocked an arrow from her bow that flew past the dragon, the knight had morphed into, and embedded itself in the fiery core of the Bone Fletcher. He crumpled into a pile of bones, his bow clattering onto the ground. For a second she only stared at the spot where Clinkz had stood, too shocked to move. It was the first time the skeleton had died in the war and the horror of it left Luna frozen into place.

Then she attacked. She cast her eclipse and stormed forward, right up to the archer woman, who had delivered the death blow. Her Lucent Beam ready again she used it to disable the shooter for a second while still going for the woman. It was no use though, because the dragon was able to stun her. It didn't interrupt her Eclipse, but the moon beams that hit the enemies weren't strong enough to kill them. She only hoped the Mogul Khan would use the time where she distracted them to get one or both of the others still somewhere behind her. And maybe still be able to get away. She would see it when they met in town again.

Luna was dead even before the stun duration faded.


	8. Chapter 7

Appearing in the safe zone Luna shuddered and took a look around, searching for Clinkz. It had all gone horribly wrong, one factor being that the enemy had been able to see the skeleton though he had been invisible, the other that they had been standing too close together and reacted way too slow to the appearance of the faceless man. He mustn't be able to cast that damn sphere or they would lose again and again.

Though she was still in the safe zone she could hear fighting. Probably the enemy had used the time while they were all dead to push one lane forward to destroy their towers while they couldn't defend them. Luna ran in the direction the noise came from. She saw the soldiers fighting under third tower on the bottom road, four enemy heroes with them. The Silencer and the Storm Spirit were defending from the higher ground of the town without leaving the safety of the shadows that clouded the vision of the enemy. Only a few seconds after her, the Mogul Khan appeared. That meant, the Mogul Khan had died as well but he must have been able to kill the faceless man. Not the best outcome but better than nothing. When Clinkz appeared, Luna was glad that he hadn't seen her die, didn't even know she had died because he had been dead for a longer time.

The Khan stormed past her and headed straight for the enemy heroes. The others reacted without hesitation, the Storm Spirit charging behind the enemy, the Silencer casting the spell to render them unable to use their abilities and Clinkz using his invisibility not to escape but to be faster, so he was able to get at their backs as well. That way they cleared the field in front of their town in seconds. The four enemy heroes couldn't do much without being able to use their spells and the dwarfen sniper was immobilized by the Storm Spirit. The archer woman tried to get away but Clinkz had anticipated that already and caught her with the help of the Storm Spirit. The Mogul Khan got the other two.

They worked well together and they won most of their fights, they had just not been prepared for what had happened at the top road. They had felt too safe after their success on the other roads. But they had seen that the enemy could undertake effective actions as well and Luna was sure they were more careful now.

Or they would initiate before the enemy could.

They had lost third tower on the bottom road, but their barracks behind the tower were still standing. Now they followed their soldiers on that road.

Luna joined Clinkz to check on him. She hadn't waited for him in the safe zone since their town had been in immediate danger.

"You okay?" she asked him. Clinkz nodded but said nothing. "Are you beating yourself up again because we lost that fight at the top road?"

Clinkz didn't answer but kept staring ahead. Luna sighed. He was so fierce and loyal and precise, but he expected too much of himself. As if it was his job alone to win this war. As if his failure was more fatal than that of the others. He was way too hard on himself.

"Clinkz, please, it wasn't your fault."

"Why the hell not? I'm the one who does the most damage. I could have killed the faceless man before he would have been able to kill one of us. But I didn't. And so we lost the fight. How could that not be my fault?" His voice was controlled and flat, revealing nothing of the fury that Luna could again feel seeping from his body. Fury at himself.

Goddess help her, why did he have to make himself responsible for things he _wasn't_ responsible for? And why did he only remember the bad incidents? "You have got the most kills in our team and just in the last fight you got the archer woman though she was already retreating."

"Wow, how successful I am…" he muttered, the words full of sarcasm.

And Luna had enough. She turned her cat and placed herself right in front of him. He had to stop abruptly or he would have run into her. Clearly annoyed he looked up at her. Luna didn't dismount this time. She didn't want to comfort him when he had one of those "I am to blame for everything" phases.

"You," she pointed at him "are the most skilled archer I have ever seen. You are the reason we will win this war! So stop debasing yourself. I don't want to hear you whining about how you are to blame for someone's death or a lost fight. You are only one! When we are not able to do _our_ jobs how do you think such a scenario will end? You killing all of them alone?"

When he looked away Luna's eyes widened. "You really think that." It was only a whisper. Then she laughed. "Oh my goddess, you really expected to be able to kill them all even with us four being disabled!"

Luna shook her head. That man was unbelievable. Now she dismounted, landing in front of Clinkz, only inches separating them. She could feel his anger as if it was lapping against her body. She dropped weapon and shield and took his face in her hands, turning it so he was looking at her. She could feel the heat from the fire between his ribs, in stark contrast to the cold of his bones. His horns blocked her vision to the sides, giving her an impression of privacy and, only the goddess might know where _that_ came from, a feeling of safety. His black eye sockets bored into her eyes, his face as expressionless as ever.

"You are very skilled, I will give you that, but we are a team. We win as a team and we lose as a team. I don't want to take away your part of the blame on the lost fight, but it was our all fault that we lost. The only problem that you had was that they were able to see you. I'm sure they places wards around their town to make you visible. So if you don't want to walk into the same trap again you either have to fight without this ability of yours or we have to place wards to make their wards visible, so we can destroy them. I can buy them if you want." I tiny smile spread over her face. "You know, you can ask for help. I will stand by your side if you want me to. But please don't get so angry at yourself all the time. It makes me crazy to see you like that." Her voice sounded pleading even to her own ears as she said the last two sentences.

But it worked. The tension left Clinkz body. Maybe she just had to be a little needy to get him out of his anger. She filed that away under the section: how to deal with an angry skeleton, for later use. They stood like that for a moment, just staring at each other. Then Clinkz took a step away.

"I know what to do. I have already bought wards. But thank you for the offer. It is appreciated."

Luna let her hands drop to her sides. "When you already made plans to counter their strategy, then why were you still so angry?"

"Because I haven't seen it coming. I wasn't prepared for what they did and they were able to surprise me." He shrugged. "I hate to fail, especially when the enemy is able to outsmart me."

Luna retrieved her weapon and shield. "Well, that happens to the best of us." She mounted her cat, glad that Clinkz was back to his normal self again. His anger at himself made her skin itch.

"That doesn't mean I have to like it when it happens, does it?"

"Hey you two lovebirds, could you please postpone your flirting until after we won this fucking war?" The Mogul Khan had appeared out of the woods in front of them and was scowling their way. "No wonder you have been useless so far, cat woman, if you are always mooning over _it_." He pointed with his chin at Clinkz. Turning he called over his shoulder: "Fucking concentrate now! I want to wipe them out!"

Luna stared after him. "He is such a stupid asshole."

"Don't take his words to heart. He just thinks he is the best and able to take on all enemies alone."

Incredulously Luna looked at Clinkz. "Doesn't that sound familiar to you? Take on all enemies on his own, being the best?"

The look Clinkz gave her sure was an arrogant one. "I am not like him. The difference is, I _am_ the best and I can take them all out by myself. And at least I don't take my frustration out on others."

Luna laughed. "How lucky we are to have you two in our team." Shaking her head and still laughing she followed the Mogul Khan.

"Hey," Clinkz shouted after her "are you laughing at me?" That only made her laugh harder, because she knew he had meant it dead serious. And they were much alike, though the Khan was an ass and Clinkz not. But she suspected that was only to her. He might just react the same way when he was talking to someone else.

The Silencer and the Storm Spirit were waiting for them near the entrance to the town. They had helped the soldiers while the Khan had been killing beasts in the woods and Clinkz and Luna had been talking. They had switched roads, away from the top road, crossing the middle road and now standing on the bottom road.

"I'll go and place the wards." Clinkz said and touched her booted ankle briefly. Then he vanished. Luna hoped he found all the enemy wards to destroy them. She was sure he would be devastated if they were able to outmanoeuvre him this time as well.

But now they entered the town on the side where they had already destroyed the tower and the barracks directly behind it, so their soldiers were able to get farther inside, giving them better vision onto the higher ground. And they didn't have to fight against the tower in addition to the enemy heroes. Maybe they shouldn't have tried to get third tower on the other road but should have stayed on this one. It might just be the tiny advantage that helped them gain the higher ground of the town.

Without another glance at them the Mogul Khan blinked inside of the enemy town. He could jump like that because he had bought a Blink Dagger and now he expected them to follow him. Sure, he was initiating the fight before the enemy could but it remained to be seen if it was successful. If he initiated with not so much as a glance in their direction to check if they were ready to follow his attack, he had to reckon with his failure.

But the others reacted quickly. Storm charged onto the higher ground and the Silencer followed immediately. Luna sighed and guided her cat up as well. She was careful to remain at a distance where the sphere from the faceless man wouldn't be able to get them all but she needn't be so careful, because he had been standing too far away from his towers and as the Khan had blinked, he had attacked him and with the help of the Storm Spirit they killed him before he could even think about casting the sphere. So now their most dangerous enemy hero was dead and they were all on the higher ground of the town.

They destroyed the remaining buildings on that side of the town and then went for the first of the two towers, which guarded the heart. Suddenly a powerful arrow speared through them, damaging all who were in its line of flight. It was followed by a shackle shot, which bound several of them together. Then the ward of the voodoo priest appeared nearly in the middle of them and this time it shot at all of them not merely at one. Damn, that did _hurt_. As soon as the shackles released them they ran in several directions, away from the ward. Clinkz had been placing a ward at the side of the town, outside of the vision range of the towers, to make sure the enemy wasn't able to see him when he was inside of the town. Now, sure that his invisibility gave him the needed cover, he approached the enemy heroes.

The dragon was going for the Mogul Khan, who was nearest to him, and stunned him before he could do anything. The dwarven sniper shot at the Silencer first, probably because he was relatively easy to kill, but switched his focus to the Khan as well when the Silencer was able to get far enough away. It seemed the sniper didn't want to venture too far away from behind the heart, were he was standing. His positioning didn't save him, though, because now the Storm Spirit charged in and together with Clinkz they attacked the shooter and the voodoo priest after having blocked their ability to cast spells. The dragon was engaged with the Khan but the archer woman now turned and aimed for Clinkz. Luna didn't think twice as she pressed forward, passing the tower and casting her Lucent Beam on the women before she was able to let her first shot loose. Then Luna activated her Eclipse and because she was standing in the middle of the fight it hit all four enemy heroes. She was grinning as the sniper fell as well as the voodoo priest, and the archer was at a loss where to go, looking slightly panicked because they were blocking her way into the safe zone.

Then the dragon turned, having recognised that he had no chance of winning against the Khan, who had just activated his Blade Mail, which returned all incoming damage to the one who made it, in this case to the dragon knight.

But his way was blocked as well and his hesitation was used by the Silencer and the Khan to kill him.

Luna didn't see the last hit, because she was going after the woman together with Clinkz, but she heard the distinct sound of the Khan's axe hitting its target in the final blow.

The archer got away using her extra fast running and dashing through the still standing tower and barracks on the top road. They didn't pursue her but returned to destroying the towers in front of the heart. They split a bit to get third tower on the middle road as well and then the barracks behind it. The archer woman wouldn't be a real threat to them and the others were still dead. Even when the faceless man resurrected they were five against two and didn't have to worry.


	9. Chapter 8

They got the towers down and went for the heart. Luna felt good that they were winning this war, especially after the bad start they had had on the bottom road. She had already seen the faceless man and the voodoo priest together owning the fights to come. But then she hadn't known what the Bone Fletcher was able to do. After he had saved her, her view over their future battles had changed entirely. It seemed rightly so.

Yes, he was sometimes too hard on himself, but she liked him. She liked that he was fierce but was always polite and friendly to her. She liked that he was able to joke with her, even make jokes about himself and that he had found a way to cope with the fact he was a skeleton. She didn't know if she would be able to come to terms with such a fact if it would happen to her, but he really didn't seem to hold a grudge against the mage who had cursed him anymore. So he was able to forgive even such a life altering and cruel action without losing himself in self-pity or anger or the wish for revenge. It spoke of a strong character. She liked that he was considerate towards her and goddess help her, but she admired his strength and cunning, his fighting abilities. He was gorgeous when he was shooting his arrows in rapid fire at an enemy, the points of his arrows leaving a burning trail in the air.

And not for the first time she wondered, how he would look like as a man. What colour would his eyes have? How would his mouth be formed? His skin colour? How would his face look like? And what about his hair? His body would be muscled but lean, an archers body.

A little shiver went through her and, as if he had sensed her staring at him, Clinkz locked his gaze with hers. They were looking at each other, totally unaware of what happened around them. Clinkz gaze dropped from her eyes to her mouth and she shivered again. She could feel his gaze traveling over every curve of her body, resting on her breasts and thighs a moment longer. Her clothes were tight, leaving nothing to the imagination, and his gaze felt almost like a caress. Her blood heated, her nipples tightened and her heart began to race. Abruptly she averted her eyes. Goddess, what was she doing? He was a skeleton and even if she found his character most appealing, she could never have a relationship with someone who consisted only of bones. How would that even work?

Alone the thought was absolutely absurd. It meant they could be friends but that was all. It was simply impossible to have any kind of physical attraction to a skeleton, even though it had been some kind of attraction that had made her heart race. He was a skeleton! Only because she imagined what he would look like as a man didn't mean he became one. She would do well to remember that.

Luna turned her cat around and right at that second the heart tumbled down, stones crashing to the ground, causing a shockwave that pushed them all several feet away from the destroyed heart. They had won. But suddenly Luna didn't feel the joy anymore. She felt rather sad instead. She took a deep breath and plastered a smile onto her face. Then she looked for the others. The Mogul Khan looked like a maniac with a wide grin spreading over his face. The Storm Spirit was grinning as well and he placed his electrically charged remnants all around him. The Silencer wasn't grinning but his scowl wasn't as deep as before. He looked almost relaxed. And Clinkz looked just as always, his face telling nothing about what he was feeling. But Luna had the feint impression of confusion and nothing of joy or pride. He wasn't even looking at the destroyed heart but was still solely focused on her. It made Luna uneasy and she turned to the others again, avoiding his gaze.

"Well done." she said. The Silencer nodded, looked at all of them once and then vanished. The Mogul Khan, of course, said nothing before following the Silencer. The Storm Spirit was enjoying himself and charged forth and back, still placing his remnants. The enemy soldiers had vanished as well, as soon as they were resurrected inside of the safe zone. Understandably they didn't want to linger.

Clinkz went to Luna and wanted to say something, but Luna could feel his confusion clearly now and didn't want to answer his question. She wouldn't really know what to say when he'd ask her what just had happened, why _she_ ignored _him_ now and skirted his gaze. So she said: "Let's go." before he could say something and vanished before he could answer. She appeared at the same place from which she had been sent to the war. The Mogul Khan was already departing, leaving the small platform on which Luna was standing. The Silencer wasn't there, so he had probably started from a different place. Only a second after her, Clinkz appeared. In addition to his confusion she could feel irritation now. And the beginning of anger when she continued to ignore him, staring after the Khan and not acknowledging his arrival.

Luna sighed. It didn't matter, she would leave for the Nightsilver Woods anyway. Those wars one town against the other were fun, but only in moderation. She would join the Goddess Elune again now, see if she was needed.

She faced Clinkz without dismounting and though she was giving him her attention now he got only angrier. "Well, I believe we have to say goodbye now. I wish you good luck." She forced herself to smile though she felt really sad at the prospect of parting with the skeleton. She had gotten really attached to him and though she knew there could never be more than friendship between them she didn't want to go separate ways. She was torn between the wish to stay with him and the wish to leave as fast as possible, to escape this strange flare of attraction she had felt.

Clinkz said nothing, only stared at her. Luna didn't know what to do, so she turned around and began her way down from the platform and to the west, where her woods were located. Using his ability to be faster than her, Clinkz appeared in front of her, blocking her way. "What is _wrong_ with you? Why do you suddenly want to leave me?"

Luna frowned. "What do you want me to do? Stay with you? Maybe keep fighting in those town wars? I have a responsibility. I have to get back to my goddess, to my forest. I can't play war with you for the rest of my life." She snapped at him, angry because of her confusion at her body's reaction. It was unjustified and definitely not fair towards Clinkz, but she couldn't help it.

"So you just leave. That's great. Have you ever considered that it is not the only possible option?" Clinkz approached her and, for the first time, really touched her. He placed his hand on her leg and curled his fingers into the hollow of her knee. Luna shivered because of the sensitivity of that spot. "Maybe we could decide together what we want to do. I don't want you to leave and I'm sure we can find a course of action with which we are both satisfied. Or are you in such a hurry to get away from me?"

He tightened his grip as if he was afraid she would say yes to his last question and just storm off. And suddenly she felt like a coward, because the answer was "yes". She _had_ wanted to leave without thinking about another option because she was afraid of her growing feelings for the skeleton in front of her. She didn't know what to do with them and the second before the heart on the enemy town had fallen, where here body had physically reacted to his gaze, where she had felt desire for a skeleton, had really thrown her off. It had scared her that her body could react in such a way to someone who wasn't even a real man. Because, let's face it, if she felt desire for him, what would she do to slake it? They definitely could not have sex. And Luna feared it would lead to a huge level of frustration if she couldn't fulfil the demands of her body. Besides, it freaked her out a bit that her body _could_ desire a skeleton. That she found his character appealing was okay, even to be drawn to him like she was, was. But feeling desire towards him was absolutely a no-go.

But running away suddenly seemed like the cowards way out. And Clinkz definitely didn't deserve that. And when she thought about it, she didn't want to leave him. Yes, she was scared about the reaction of her body but on the other hand she liked him very much. Why should she jeopardise this? She would deal with her body if the problem repeated itself. Until then she wanted to enjoy her time with one of the most fascinating and appealing men she had ever met.

She lifted her eyes to his face, her expression sombre. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. For a second I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing. I won't run away from you without discussing what we will do next." When he didn't react she added: "I promise."

The tension visibly left his body and he released his grip on her leg, taking a step back. Luna dismounted because it was in no way polite to be seated that much higher while talking.

"Have I done something wrong?" he asked. Luna shook her head. "No. I just panicked for a moment but it wasn't your fault. And it is okay now."

"What made you panic, then?"

Luna didn't want to tell him. First it was slightly embarrassing and second he would see it as his fault. Which it wasn't. So she just shook her head again. "It's not of importance." She could see that he didn't really believe her but he let the subject drop.

"So you want to return to your goddess in the forest."

"Yes. I have a responsibility there and I only want to be away now and then to see something different. I do have to check back from time to time, to see if everything is all right or if they need help. Or if somebody else wants to go roaming for a while. But when they don't need me I can come back so we can do something together."

Clinkz stared at her feet while thinking about her suggestion. "You would go to your goddess and maybe come back. Or maybe not. And I would wait here for you, without the knowledge if you are coming back. How long?"

"Well, yeah. And I don't know how long." Luna shrugged. "Could be a few days or a few years, depending on what's going on in the forest."

"You want me to wait several years? Here?" Clinkz sounded slightly offended.

"Um, no?"

Clinkz shook his head. "Definitely no." He looked at her for a few moments. "How about I come with you?"

"With me?" Luna was shocked. "Into the woods?"

"Yes, why not? That way I would know directly if you had to stay or not. Maybe I could even help you if the need arose."

"But…" her words trailed of. She had wanted to say "but you are a skeleton". Then her mind had kicked in. What did it matter if he was a skeleton? He was not like the ones who rose from hell, who had died once and now ventured out in search for living souls. He had never been dead. He was different, unique, and though she would bring a skeleton with her into the woods she wouldn't bring a _skeleton_. Maybe the idea wasn't that bad. She just had to convince the high priestess Tyrande, who was their by the goddess chosen leader, that Clinkz wasn't a conventional skeleton. Or, she thought as she remembered his politeness towards her, he could do the convincing on his own. And he would definitely be a great help for them considering his skill in battle.

"It could work." She said slowly, still thinking about how best to get him in front of the priestess. She would, just like Luna, see the goodness of his soul, of that she was sure. Even his sometimes extreme and exaggerated fury couldn't hide that fact. She wasn't sure if the others would see it, though, so she had to skirt all sentries on her way to her, to not cause uproar. But if the high priestess accepted him, so would the others. "You really want to join me?"

"Yes. I would like to see the Nightsilver Woods and to meet your goddess."

Luna smiled. It would be nice to have Clinkz by her side, not only on the way to the Woods but in the Woods as well. "Then let's go. But I don't think you will meet the goddess. First we will see the chosen high priestess Tyrande. Before I want to stop at a nearby merchant to get something to eat and drink. I assume you need nothing like that?"

"No, I don't need anything. Maybe a few more arrows. Does he sell weapons as well?"

Luna nodded while mounting her cat. She petted the animal on the neck and guided it to the west again.


	10. Chapter 9

The plain they crossed was covered with short grass and only little bushes so they could head in a straight line for their destination. Clinkz asked questions about the woods they were heading to, about the other warriors who guarded it and again about the goddess and the high priestess. Luna told him everything he needed to know to be of help in a fight later and then asked him about what he would have done if he hadn't accompanied her, what he had done before they had met at the town war.

They ran at a leisurely pace that wasn't too tiresome for her cat. Outside of the war between the two towns they had to think about such things again, just like Luna needed food again. While in the war, physical effects like fatigue, hunger or exhaustion were completely extinguished and it took a while to get used to them again. No wonder some of the heroes jumped from war to war. For some it was an easier way to cope with life. And you couldn't die in those wars. There were definitely positive aspects to fighting one after the other. The real world was much harsher but, as she had said before, Luna had a responsibility here and she was no one to skirt it only because something else was easier.

They stopped at the house of the merchant, which was standing at the side of a road. It wasn't the only house but was flanked by an inn, where you could get a room for the night, and several other merchants' shops for different kinds of wares. A little further back were the houses the merchants lived in with their families. Luna had been at this resting point several times in her live so she knew where to go and what to buy.

"Do you need to sleep?" she asked Clinkz. Because of him being a skeleton, who couldn't die, she didn't know if he needed anything like a normal person.

"No, I don't need to sleep. I like to rest, though. I do feel exhaustion if I don't make a break now and then."

"Okay. I will need to sleep eventually but we can go onward and rest on a clearing in one of the smaller forests. If you want to rest sooner just tell me and we will stop. We, Nova and I, prefer not to be encased by a building not belonging to night elves while sleeping and I know a few spots on our way which are suitable. Any preferences of yours I need to know?"

Clinkz shook his head. "One place is as good as the other."

Luna supplied herself first and then showed Clinkz to the weaponry where she browsed through the blades on one side while he discussed with the merchant what he wanted and how much it would cost him. Luna registered that the man, a human, avoided looking directly at the skeleton. Just like Clinkz had said, people were uncomfortable with him being a skeleton and got nervous when his black eye sockets focused on them. Though she was sure Clinkz didn't find it funny in the least, Luna smiled. Some creatures where just so _pathetic_. What did they think Clinkz would do? Kill them? That he could do without looking at them. If he was near enough for them to look into his face, killing was clearly not his intention. Couldn't they see that? _Stupid man_ , Luna thought.

As the merchant dropped the arrows he had fetched because of his nervousness, Luna could feel anger stirring in Clinkz. His face betrayed nothing and he waited patiently until all arrows were collected and the man gave them to him. He still avoided looking at him and as Clinkz gave him the money, more than he had asked for, his hands were shaking. Without another word the skeleton left the shop and Luna, giving the man an evil look that had him nearly dropping the money as well, followed.

Clinkz stood next to her cat, which was lying on the grass at the corner of the house, as she left the building. "Stupid human." He muttered as he tucked the arrows into his quiver.

"At least they are afraid of you." She said. "Sometimes I would like them to fear me without me proving to them how dangerous I can be."

"I can't fathom why you would want that." He was still angry and Luna decided for a little "I am so envious of you" story to distract him. Maybe with a little "I am such a poor woman" and "You are so cool" woven into it.

"Well, when I walk into an inn, for example, there is always more than one male who is of the opinion I need a man at my side. One to protect me, or so they say, and of course to bed me. And sure enough they are this male I have to choose for that. It is not uncommon for one to grab me, slap my ass or grab my tits. And I can tell you, I could clearly do without groping from nameless men. A little more fear when looking at me would be highly welcome. And inside of a shop it is not better. Merchants tend to try to cheat women they think weak or helpless. I am more than sure I _never_ encountered one who charged me _less_ than my purchased wares were worth. And you didn't even have to do something! He was just so afraid of you that he sold his arrows cheaper to you!"

"They grab you?" He seemed a little shocked but his anger had lessened. "I hope every one of them paid for touching you." And that was the best about it, _he_ knew that she was able to help herself, to defend herself.

A grin spread across Luna's face. "Only because they _think_ I'm not dangerous doesn't mean they are right about that." Then she sighed. "It would be a little easier, though, if they were afraid before I have to show them what I can do if they overstep the boundaries."

"You wouldn't like it if everyone was always afraid of you."

"Yeah, I believe I wouldn't. But sometimes it would be nice. Good riddance I have you at my side now. Nobody will dare touch me when they see I am with you." Luna grinned. She really liked the idea of Clinkz keeping away unwelcome males and of merchants being more respectful towards her. She didn't care if they only did it because they saw Clinkz. It was way too tiresome to always show them why she should be treated with respect.

Clinkz stared at her and Luna raised her brows. "What?" He wasn't angry anymore but she didn't know what he was thinking now. When his emotions were strong she could feel them but without any facial expressions she definitely couldn't read him when she wasn't able to pick up on his emotions.

He just shook his head. "I'm ready. Are we off?"

And on they went. It didn't take them long to enter the first of many small forests. It would slow their advance but Luna preferred the shadows of the trees to the plains they had been crossing. She always felt vulnerable in the open and the trees gave her cover. But today, she realized, she hadn't even felt uncomfortable. She glanced at Clinkz, who was running at her side, from time to time venturing in one direction or the other to check their surroundings. He, she realised, made her feel safe. She had a feeling of comfort and security that she only knew from her encounters with the goddess. It wasn't as if she was helpless and she often travelled alone. But she was sure that Clinkz would do everything to protect her and though she was a warrior and able to look after herself on her own, she didn't feel offended by his care. She rather liked it. Maybe because even when he protected her, he let her fight, too, respected her strength and instead of fighting for her he fought _with_ her.

When he appeared at her side again, after running to the left, she smiled at him. "Care to tell me how you got to be the best archer I have ever seen? Why did you choose archery? It isn't the most respected weapon since it is used from a greater distance and such." She was curious about him and they had lots of time now to get to know each other better before they reached the Nightsilver Woods.

"I didn't have much of a choice in the beginning. I wasn't one of the most muscular or tallest men but I had to learn to fight. So my father decided I should learn how the use a bow rather than a sword since I was barely able to hold the blade. I would never have been able to fight with it. At the beginning I resented being an archer. I had been chosen to become one because I was too weak to do something else and not because I was good at it like some of the others. But soon I realised that shooting arrows from a bow required strength as well. And a high measure of skill. And after months of training, when I was finally strong enough to use one of the most dangerous bows, I found I was good at archery. And that I somehow had begun to like it. My reluctance to train a weapon I had never really wanted to learn turned into the opposite. I was in the training yard every minute I could spare and I asked our best archers how to improve my stance, my aim, my breathing, everything I would need to get better. I took all the advice I got and merged them together to create my own technique. And I kept practicing. At some point I even decided I needed a better bow and I searched for the best crafter of bows to get it. When I came back with that bow I proudly showed my father what I could do with it. I had become one of the best archers of our tribe, then. But as you have said, archery isn't the most respected of ways to fight and my father thought just like that. He told me he didn't care if I was the best archer in the world, that as long as I couldn't swing a sword, it was nothing to him. At the time I was crushed. I didn't understand how he couldn't be proud of what I had achieved. I almost quit archery just to please my father but I was called to fight in the war that we were involved in at the time and since archery was the only thing I had learned, I had no choice but to use it. I was assigned to one of the archer groups. It didn't take long for the leader of that group to realize I was more skilled then he or than any other man in our group and he kept giving me additional tasks so I wouldn't get bored. I was always the one who got the more difficult targets and the stronger opponents. The men started to look up to me and ask me for advice, just as I had done at the beginning with my teachers. And I realised that I didn't need my father's approval. I had the approval of half our tribe and from day to day I got known to more of them. At some point in the war I was released from my group and that was when I started to hone my skills into perfection. I moved through the fighters on the battlefield, avoiding the enemy while using my bow and arrows to kill as many as possible. I saved more than one life on this strives of mine. I have to say, I was saved from time to time as well. I never was home long after this first war but went from one fight to the other. I avoided seeing my father because he still made me feel small and weak, not like the men I fought with. I became something of a legend and when the commanders of our tribe decided I had to take a role as leader I accepted. That is how I came to fight against the demon, which burned me."

"So you didn't want to become an archer at the beginning."

"No, definitely not. But I am the best now, nonetheless."

Luna laughed. "And not the least arrogant, are you?"

"Well, I _am_ the best. Why should I disregard that?" That made her only laugh harder. Of course he was the best, she knew he was right, but it was kind of funny to see him with his expressionless face declare it. She liked that he was confident and knew exactly what he could do.

"I don't know why you think this is funny. But maybe you want to tell me why you decided to fight with a glaive and a shield?"

"That was no decision of me, either. When we join the goddess we all have to learn to fight with the same weapons." She shrugged. "They are not easy to handle but we all learn it eventually. And we learn how to use the power she bestows on us, the ability to use the moonlight as a weapon, as well. _That_ is the real challenge in becoming a protector of the Nightsilver Woods and the Goddess of the Moon. Unlike you, I'm not the best. I have the reputation to be ruthless, but the best? Even leaving the high priestess aside that wouldn't be me. But over the centuries I have much improved my abilities and I'm sure there aren't many left who can best me."

"I have seen you fight and I was impressed. How you wield the power of the moon while throwing your glaive… Maybe you are not _the_ best, but you are definitely one of the best."

Luna smiled. He was sweet.


	11. Chapter 10

Their journey was uneventful. They rested at the spots Luna knew and made good progress. The weather was good, which wasn't something one could expect in this region. It was nice not to have to travel alone, Luna thought. Clinkz was a good companion. They talked a lot and she liked him more and more each day they were together. She was glad she hadn't left after the town war.

When they neared the Nightsilver Woods, Luna got quieter. She searched her surroundings for a sign of a fellow warrior and used the more hidden paths through the trees. Clinkz remained by her side now, from time to time using his ability to go invisible to mask his presence. He couldn't keep it up all the time, though. That would have made getting him to the priestess without someone noticing easier by far. But Luna knew the pattern of the sentinels and was able to skirt them. When they neared the village where Tyrande resided in one of the houses, Luna got nervous. What if she didn't see the good in Clinkz? She enjoyed spending time with him and had already been looking forward to him fighting by her side when they had to defend the forest.

The house of the high priestess was the last one on the northern side of the village and they approached from the side where they would have cover from the trees. They had stopped talking when they had first entered the forest, moving silently through the shadows. Luna glanced sideways at Clinkz, while he glided from shadow to shadow, nearly invisible even though he didn't use his ability and silent as well. She was really glad he was not her enemy. It was fascinating so see him move like that and if he had been a real man she was sure she wouldn't be able to take her eyes off of him. Even in this form she was in awe at his fluent movements and his grace.

They rounded the corner of the house. Two sentinels were posted at the steps up to the terrace. There was no way to get to the high priestess without passing those two. Luna took a deep breath and together they walked up to the two. When they saw them they put their hands on their weapons but didn't raise them. They shot a questioning glance at Luna, looking uneasy about the presence of the skeleton, but since the warriors of the goddess all knew each other, they all trusted each other. And since Clinkz was clearly with her, they didn't automatically attack, though they would have done so if he had arrived alone. A skeleton was an enemy and, if one came into sight, killed without questions.

They stopped in front of the two guards. "We have come to see the high priestess. Please tell her I have something I would like to ask of her regarding my companion, Clinkz the Bone Fletcher."

The two sentinels looked at each other. One nodded and the other disappeared inside of the house. The first didn't take his hands from his weapons and still eyed them suspiciously. After a few minutes the second one reappeared in the open doorway. He nodded to Luna. They were allowed to enter the house. Luna dismounted and patted her cat on the neck. It nudged her with its nose and then went to look for a nice place to sleep while they were inside. Luna stepped up to the door but when Clinkz wanted to follow, the first sentinel stopped him.

"You are not allowed to go in there armed. Leave your weapons outside."

For a second Luna got mad at him for suggesting Clinkz was a danger to the priestess. But he was right. Clinkz was a skeleton and it was their job to protect Tyrande. She waited while Clinkz discarded his bow and his quiver. He looked strange without them, as if some vital part was missing.

He joined Luna and together they entered the first room. It was something like an anteroom where they had to wait till the priestess was ready to see them. There was only one other door then the one they had stepped through, which led to the chambers of the high priestess. On the sides to the left and the right were huge windows to make the room bright with the light from outside. They were open but enchanted so nobody could enter or leave through them. In front of the second door two more guards were posted and the one who had waved them inside left behind them, handing the responsibility for them over to those two.

They stood in the middle of the room, silently waiting for the woman to receive them. Luna was still nervous about her reaction and avoided looking at Clinkz.

"Are you embarrassed about me?" Clinkz voice was low but she flinched nonetheless, because they sounded loud in the silence of the room. Then she registered his words. She frowned and looked at him. "What? Why would I be embarrassed about you?"

He didn't look at her, had his gaze focused on the door in front of him. "Because you sneak me inside of this building, making sure nobody sees us, avoiding contact with your fellow warriors at any cost. From my point of view it definitely looks that way, as if you don't want anybody to see you with me by your side. And you are nervous and don't look at me anymore."

Luna blinked. She hadn't thought about how her behaviour might appear to Clinkz, especially since he had copied her, hiding himself without questions. And now he had come to the wrong conclusion. As if she cared what the others thought when they saw she had a skeleton as a friend now. "Clinkz," she said and when he still stared at the door she stepped in his line of sight, repeating his name, her voice soft. "You are wrong. I'm sorry I gave such an impression, but I can assure you I am _not_ embarrassed about you."

"Then why all this sneaking around?"

"To protect you! What do you think the warriors of the goddess would do if they saw a skeleton in their forest? They would kill without thinking for a second why the skeleton was together with me! And I'm nervous because I don't know how the goddess will react to your presence here."

He still seemed not completely convinced so she stepped up to him, her head in the frame of his horns and placed her hands on his cheek bones. She looked into the black holes where his eyes had been. "Clinkz, I am _not_ embarrassed about being seen with you. I promise." He didn't say anything but she felt that it was okay, that he believed her now and Luna smiled, relieved. She didn't want him to think something like that.

The door at her back opened. "Luna Moonfang," a smooth and melodic voice said. "Good to have you back."

Luna turned and immediately sank onto one knee, her head bowed. "High priestess."

The high priestess Tyrande took a few steps forward, touching Luna's head briefly. Next she turned to Clinkz, who mimicked Luna's pose on her left side. "You must be the Bone Fletcher, Clinkz from the Hoven Lands. I have heard about you. Follow me inside, it is rather uncomfortable out here."

Luna frowned. She knew Clinkz? Or had heard about him? She wondered if he was really famous, not only among his tribe, and if she had only been inattentive. But the priestess was much older than her and had experienced so much more in her long life. Might be she had known Clinkz before the curse had hit him.

They stood up and followed the priestess.

The next room had a small moon pond in the middle and stairs on one side led to an upper level. The sunlight was streaming inside through big, open windows, through which the forest could be seen and the pond was illuminated by a feint glow that seemed to move over the water. The pond was encircled by stones and on one of those stones a young night elf was sitting, her fingers stroking leisurely through the water. When they entered she looked up for a second and then resumed her previous position, ignoring their presence.

The high priestess moved to a collection of benches made roughly out of trees trunks across from the stairs. They were positioned in a semi-circle, open towards the room. The priestess took a seat just on the side of the window. Now she could look into the forest and into the room, the girl at the pond in her field of vision.

Luna and Clinks took the seats on the other side of the window, sharing a bench and leaving space between them and the woman.

Without further niceties the priestess directly addressed the reason for their visit. "So you brought the Bone Fletcher into our woods. What do you expect of me now?"

Her face didn't show what she was thinking about that fact or what she might be expecting.

"Your Highness," Luna answered, "in the war of the towns he has proven to be a worthy ally and I thought he could be a great help to us with protecting the Nightsilver Woods. He and I have become friends and I am loath to part from him now that the war we participated in is over. I bid you to evaluate his admittance into the ranks of the guardians of the Goddess of the Moon."

A long time the priestess didn't say anything. She had a faraway look, maybe thinking about what it would mean to them if they allowed a skeleton into their guard.

"I have heard of the Bone Fletcher before he was burned to bones and I know that he fought for a similar cause for which we are fighting at the present. The Bone Fletcher from then, I would gladly welcome into our ranks. But I have no idea what he has become over this long time he is a skeleton and cursed to live like one forever." Now she fixed her eyes on Clinkz. "Do you want to fight for us? And for the Goddess of the Moon?"

"Yes your Highness. It would be my pleasure to serve the Goddess of the Moon by protecting the Nightsilver Woods. I would feel honoured if you gave me a chance to prove myself."

The high priestess stood. "I will think about it." She looked at Luna now. "A word with you alone, Luna Moonfang."

Luna and Clinkz rose as well, the skeleton bowing to the priestess. "It was a pleasure to meet the high priestess of the elves." Then he left the room.

"I don't think he can join us but even if I permit it, he will have to endure the sacred rites first. He can stay though, under one condition: he is not allowed to be alone at any time. You must always be near him and he must never be out of your sight. I don't know him and I can't trust him so I don't want him roaming our woods alone. If we have to fight, and I suspect we will have to, soon, he can gladly participate, but again: only with you by his side, always. Understood?"

Luna nodded. It would be no hardship to stay close to him and to tell the truth: she didn't care if he became a guardian of the Nightsilver Woods as long as he was allowed to stay. She bowed to the priestess. "Thank you your highness."

"Make sure everyone has seen him at least once before he fights with us. Or has heard about him. I don't want their focus wavering in the fight because they think an enemy is among us."

"Of course."

When she turned around as a sign that Luna was dismissed, she left.


	12. Chapter 11

In front of the house Clinks was waiting, his bow and quiver already equipped. She knew he wanted to ask what the priestess had wanted from her but she shook her head a little. She would tell him when they were at her residence or somewhere more secluded. The priestess surely didn't want her to tell Clinkz what she had said but Luna wouldn't keep her mistrust and her task a secret from him.

"Nova!" she called her cat and when she appeared from around the corner, mounted the animal. "Come," she said to Clinkz, "I will show you around a bit." She waved at the two guards in front of the house. "Tell everybody you see Clinkz is staying with us for the moment, please. He will also fight with us. Have a good day."

They headed into the village. Luna showed Clinkz which houses were the important ones and where the merchants were standing. When they saw an elf, they stopped and Luna chatted with everyone for a few minutes. They kept casting looks at Clinkz and Luna explained again and again who he was and that he was staying in the Nightsilver Woods for now. They entered a house, leaving Luna's cat outside again, that was open to all sides without doors and a counter in the middle of the roofed place. Behind the counter two merchants sold food and drinks and night elves lingered around, chatting. They stopped one after the other when Luna and Clinkz entered the building, staring at the skeleton and more than one grabbing for his or her weapon. "Hey all," Luna said into the silence. "I want to introduce to you our new ally, Clinkz, the Bone Fletcher. He will stay with us and fight with us for the time being. Be nice to him." Then she smiled and approached a group of four elves on one side. Clinkz followed, warily glancing around, but though all eyes were focused on him, no one made any threatening moves and those who had grabbed for their weapons had discarded them after Luna had introduced him. Luna talked with the four, two men and two women, who were the ones, she told him, who shared a house with her. They didn't stay long, just enough to exchange news and then Luna headed to the house she lived in. The elves always shared their quarters with others, so they didn't have to build too many houses into the forest. They had a few beds free in theirs so it would be no problem for Clinkz to stay with Luna.

Luna hadn't mounted her cat but was walking next to Clinkz now. She was glad to be in the woods again and even more to sleep in her bed this night. She made sure the most important persons had seen Clinkz, including the merchants, who would gossip about a skeleton fighting with them until everybody had heard about it, and the ones he would share a roof with.

There was nothing she would rather do now than sleep but she had felt the tension in the air that told of an incoming battle and she had to show Clinkz a few more things. That would have to come first.

They entered her house and she showed Clinkz where she slept and where he could stay. The beds were next to each other but Clinkz didn't have to sleep like her so he wouldn't use it much. They were alone, so Luna faced him and said: "The high priestess wanted me to always stay by your side and to never let you from my sight."

Clinkz nodded. "It is only sensitive of her. So that was what she wanted to talk with you about?"

"Yes. And in the fight that is coming as well. But I assume you would want to stay with me anyway, don't you?"

"Of course I would. Thank you for taking me with you. It is a nice place where you live."

Luna smiled. "It is, isn't it? I love the woods. It is as if I can always feel the energy of the goddess here. It centres me and makes me feel peaceful. It's so sad we always have to fight for it against others."

"You can feel it, don't you? The threat? When do you think the fight will begin?"

She nodded. So he felt it, too. She thought maybe every warrior would, it was just something in the air that spoke of war. "Tomorrow. Maybe even tonight. We have to be prepared, though whoever will be attacking would be a fool to come here in the dark. They would be at a huge disadvantage then." Her face was grim. But she was so glad that Clinkz would be by her side in the fight. She could count on him and his skills were really useful. "Thank you that you accompanied me here."

Stepping closer to her, so that his horns framed her face, blocking everything out, he said. "I will do everything that is necessary to keep you safe. Even if the high priestess hadn't wanted you to stay with me all the time, I wouldn't have left you even for a second. You are the most beautiful person, inside and outside, I have ever met and I will protect you from harm with everything I have."

Goddess, was he gorgeous. And fierce. Her heart was beating faster than usual at his declaration. She was sure no one had ever felt like that about her and no one had ever talked like that to her. Of course she could defend herself and didn't _need_ his protection, but oh, how she _wanted_ it. How it made her feel safe only to be surrounded by his body, his need to protect her like a blanket wrapping around her and cocooning her. If she could, she would remain here, the horns of a skeleton on the sides of her face, his bow braced next to her body on one side and on the other side a wall, where he had put his gloved hand. She was trapped but she definitely didn't feel like it. A shudder ran down her spine and she let out a soft sigh. Clinkz gaze dropped to her now parted lips and suddenly she could feel the fire in his chest burning brighter, warmer, then before. Then Clinkz stepped back and another shudder ran through her body. This time it was because she felt the reality coming back, the feeling of safety and contentment not gone but definitely lesser.

"Show me the rest I have to see and then we can relax a little before the fight."

She did just that, guiding him through the forest, showing the gathering points and the places where they preferred to fight, if they could lead the enemy there. She showed him where the scouts were traveling and the trees where the most archers were positioned. She explained what tactics they normally used, what traps they build and when they withdrew from a fight to gather anew. She showed him where her post was and told him who their leaders were, whom he had to obey.

When she could think of nothing else to show him and they had met a few more of her fellow warriors, she returned to her house, exhausted. Her cat was sleeping in her usual spot on the side of the house, together with two other cats.

Inside of the house Luna grabbed something to eat and headed for her bed. With a sigh she dropped on it, put her weapon and her shield under the bed, so she could reach it fast and leaned against the wall to eat. Clinkz placed his bow and quiver at the end of his bed and sat on it, facing her. He wouldn't eat or drink and would only rest and not sleep. But Luna was tired now and had to get a few hours of sleep before the fighting began. The only things she took off before lying down were her gloves, her boots and her helmet.

Her full body suit remained because it took too long to put it on when an alarm sounded. Of course she took it off normally but not when a battle was that close. When she had eaten she mumbled a "good night" to Clinkz, lay down and drifted off immediately. The attack didn't start in the night and Luna woke well rested when the first rays of sunlight shone into the room. It was a beautiful morning but everything seemed hushed outside, no birds singing and no animals bustling through the trees. They sensed the oncoming fight as well and stayed hidden.

Luna stretched and sat, then rolled off the bed, first grabbing her weapon and shield and placing them on the covers. Then she looked at Clinkz, who sat on his bed, facing the window. He seemed bored after a night of sitting around but Luna suspected he would get enough action soon. "Good morning." He said and swung his legs from the bed. "Are we going? I think they are not far away anymore. I would've woken you any minute now."

Looking out of the window she nodded. She could sense it as well and put her boots, helmet and gloves on as fast as she could. On her way out she took a bit bread and fruit, things she could eat on the way. Her cat was already standing in front of the house, as were some of the other night elves. They were ready and set out for their particular post, even before the alarm was sounded. They were kind of synchronized with the forest and felt when something was wrong. Interesting that Clinkz had been able to feel it, then. But he had lived a long time and had probably learned to look for small signs and he had defended a land as well at some time. He was a warrior after all.

Their group was ready and now they waited for the enemy to enter the woods. Clinkz turned towards Luna. "I will scout around you. I won't go far and be there when needed." Luna nodded. "Some of us can go invisible as well and will be out there. Be careful."

A few minutes later Clinkz reappeared and update Luna's group about who was approaching, how many, which way they were taking and so on.

And then, without another warning, the fight was on. The enemy attacked and Luna just stopped thinking. It was only fighting now, hitting and blocking, her body moving without conscious thought, years of training having made thinking unnecessary in a fight. From time to time she looked where Clinkz was, but as he had promised, he never strayed far from her. He saved more than one night elf though, while running between the trees. He was gorgeous and he was deadly. He was faster even then the elves, using his invisibility to surprise an enemy or to retreat and he fired his burning arrows faster than any other archer.

When the enemy withdrew, giving them a short reprieve, Luna made a headcount. Astonished she counted again and then looked at the ground where they had been fighting. They had lost not one night elf of her entire group! Some were beat up rather bad but not one was dead. And wounds could be healed. Luna took a deep breath and smiled. Her gaze connected with Clinkz'. "Thank you."

"The battle is not over yet. And I suspect they will attack us with reinforcement the next time. They will know what awaits them and will be more careful."

"I know." But she didn't stop smiling. A good fight would strengthen the morals of the group and they would just become stronger. And when the next enemy wave collided with them, she was still smiling because fighting with Clinkz by her side was an entirely different experience.

They didn't get another break, instead the enemy kept coming again and again. The fight was like a blur, Luna not even aware of the amount of time that went by. They all fought to survive, to protect the forest and their Goddess. They would only stop when no one was left to fight.

When the enemy realized they didn't have a chance against the Bone Fletcher and switched focus to another place, leaving just a few sporadic creatures running against them, Luna decided to leave her group. Together with Clinkz she now strode across the battle field, heading from one fight to the next. Clinkz kept circling around her, simply because he was faster, and he killed one enemy after the other. A few times the elves were startled by his appearance but they had all heard of him by now. They moved on like that until no enemy was left, returning to Luna's group.

They looked all exhausted, just like Luna felt, but they still had lost no one and when they saw Clinkz they gathered around him, thanking him and praising him. They all knew it was his doing that they had gotten away that good and they smiled at him and a few even touched him briefly.

Luna watched for a second how they all fussed about him, then she turned around, not wanting to see it. She didn't want them to tell him how gorgeous he was. Especially not the women. _She_ wanted to tell him that. She dismounted and occupied herself with checking her cat, looking for injuries, but she wasn't really into it. She listened to the chatter behind her, feeling strangely sad and at once angry.

Clinkz stepped into her field of vision without her having heard his approach. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Her voice sounded sullen and she knew she should be happy that he was accepted like that. But then she wanted him all for herself, not sharing him with the others. She felt the confusion from Clinkz and sighed. He didn't seem like he cared for their praise but had come to her instead. Like she was more important to him. And of course she knew that. She leaned against her cat and looked at him. "Sorry. I just had an irrational bout of jealousy." She sighed again, and then smiled.

His confusion hadn't lessened. "Why?"

"Well, because all those sexy women were surrounding you. They even touched you!"

"Do you think I care for them?"

"No, I don't. That's why I said it was irrational."

"Will that happen every time another woman talks to me?" If he had eyebrows he would have probably raised them.

Luna laughed. "No, I don't think so. It was just the first time I have seen another woman besides me talking to you. It felt strange. But I will get used to it. Now come, the enemy is gone and I even hear the first birds singing in the trees. We have something to celebrate."

The bodies from the dead would disappear, so they could just return into the village. The Nightsilver Woods would take care of the remains of the battle.


	13. Chapter 12

Luna felt exhausted. Her legs hurt from riding all day, her arms were heavy and her shoulders tense. Her weapons seemed to weigh a ton suddenly and she would love to discard them, together with her clothes and preferably take a long, hot bath. But that would have to wait. It was more important to gather in the village, to see how the fight had gone, talk to the others and celebrate that they had won. It was good for the community to do that. And afterwards there would be time to relax. Even when they fought longer they would do that first.

When they entered the village most elves were already there. The atmosphere was light and Luna could hear laughter here and there. It must have been a good fight and luckily it had only lasted one day. Most times the enemy wasn't that easy to discourage but the forest was alive again, so they must have left. Maybe they would try again sometime, but not tomorrow or the day after.

Luna stopped at her house, dismounting her cat so that she could sleep and bringing her weapons in her room. They wouldn't need it today and she told Clinkz to leave his as well. It would be seen as rude to take them to the celebration.

"You were stunning today." Clinkz said.

"Says the one who killed half the enemy army and saved half the elves today." Luna shook her head. "You are just not able to see your own achievements, do you?" She smiled fondly at him. "Every time I see you fighting, I'm in awe. And I am more than glad that you were with me today." She stepped in front of him and then she hugged him. She had to be a little careful with his horns and it was strange to only feel bones but it seemed the right thing to do. First he was tense but then he put his arms around her. "I wish I could really feel you." He murmured.

They separated again and Luna stared at him. She felt sad for him suddenly. "It must be really hard not be able to do the same things as a man of flesh and blood. And I imagine it is very lonely to live like you do."

A shrug with one shoulder. "You get used to it. Though I have to say it is really nice to have a companion again. One who doesn't care how I look like. And I am grateful that you took me with you."

"You're welcome. No come, I'm sure they're already waiting for us. Or for you, since I imagine you are the hero of today's battle."

And she was right. As soon as the elves saw Clinkz approaching, they began to cheer and applaud. He had saved more than half of them at one point or the other and he had killed, if not half the enemy army, definitely more than any other elf had. Clinkz stepped nearer to Luna, until his arm brushed against hers. He was uncomfortable with that kind of attention and Luna, wanting to give him a little comfort, took his hand. Holding hands like that was intimate, since Luna had never done that before, but Clinkz was relaxing a bit and his uneasiness lessened. Many of the elves talked to Clinkz, thanked him or admired him openly and some of the archers asked him if he would tell a few of his tricks. Clinkz was always polite and no one, except Luna, seemed to be able to sense his discomfort.

When she wanted to get something to eat and leave Clinkz alone for a moment, he tightened his grip. "I am hungry." She whispered, since someone was talking to him. He nodded in her direction and to the elf in front of him he said to talk again later. When they headed to the tables with the food, he spoke very quietly, so not to be heard by others. "Please don't leave me alone. I don't want to talk to them without you."

"Okay, I won't."

Just when Luna was chewing her first bite, the high priestess Tyrande approached them. She cast an unreadable look at their linked hands, but didn't comment on it. She stopped in front of Clinkz. "Bone Fletcher," she said. "I have heard only good thing about you today. At first I thought it was exaggerated but then I have seen you, have been able to confirm what has been said. And I agree with everyone who told me that you are the reason we won today this fast and completely. And I will let the goddess know about you." She inclined her head towards him in a hint of a bow and left. Luna stared after her with open mouth. "Wow, that was high praise." She continued chewing and wondered if that meant Clinkz would become part of their guard. He certainly had proven himself today but it might not be enough.

The celebration, even with all of them being happy about the outcome of the battle, didn't last very long. They were all tired and wanted to get some sleep.

But first Luna took Clinkz to a collection of ponds. The water in them was clear because a stream always provided them with fresh water. They were used for bathing and were divided in ones for males and ones for females. Clinkz seemed a little reluctant to let her hand go but though he was a skeleton, he was still male and not permitted to accompany Luna. He sat on a tree stump to wait for her, because he didn't have to bathe.

The water wasn't cold but not warm either. A few other women were already there, but she didn't really talk to them. They were all glad the day was over. Luna tried not to dally, to not make Clinkz wait overlong, just discard her clothes, clean her body and hair and then take a loose robe she had brought from her house. She felt strange in something that didn't cling tightly to her body like her suit, but didn't want to sleep in it again. With bare feet, her hair in a ponytail again and the light green material flowing around her legs she went back to Clinkz. He hadn't moved and was staring into the woods. A few birds were gathered at his feet and were quarrelling over an insect, which he totally ignored.

She must have made a sound with her approach, because Clinkz turned his head in her direction. His gaze wandered from her head to her naked toes and back up. Then he took her clothes from her arms and without a word they headed to Luna's house. Without more than a "good night" she sank onto her bed and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning was relatively uneventful. They looked after their weapons, cleaned their clothes, stretched their sore muscles and relaxed. Later, Luna again in her body suit but without gloves and helmet, they went through the woods in teams to look what damage had been done and what they could do to repair it. They split the work but wouldn't start today. Clinkz was always with Luna, sometimes scouting around her when they were in the forest, but never straying far.


	14. Chapter 13

When the sun was already setting, a messenger arrived to tell Luna she and Clinkz had been summoned by the Goddess of the Moon. They were expected at the moon pond on the western side of the village. They went their immediately, because who wanted to let a goddess wait? Without thinking much about it, they were holding hands again. And it felt so right. She had become unbelievably used to the presence of the skeleton by her side and enjoyed it.

They could see the light from the ethereal form of the goddess shining through the trees as they drew near the pond. She was standing next to the water, the high priestess in front of her. The priestess had her eyes cast onto the ground, not only as a sign of respect but also because the light surrounding the goddess was too bright to directly look at Her. They were talking about something but stopped when they saw Clinkz and Luna. Luna sank on one knee, Clinkz following, since they were still holding hands, and bowed her head. "My goddess, you asked for me?"

The goddess approached them. "Luna Moonfang," she said, her voice soft and singsongy. With her fingers she brushed lightly against Luna's hair. "And the Bone Fletcher." She brushed his head as well, like some kind of blessing. "May the moon shine upon you and guide you well."

Her focus turned solely onto Clinkz now. "I have heard about you. All the elves in the Nightsilver Woods know no other topic these days. You did really well out there, I was told. And saved many an elf. Normally I don't reward excellent fighting, because I expect everyone to give their best. But it seems you are lacking in something I would be able to give you. What would you wish for yourself, Bone Fletcher?"

"I wish for nothing, my goddess. I didn't fight to get a reward."

"I know that, otherwise I wouldn't be so inclined to give you one. But I see you are holding hands with the Moon Rider. Are you sure you don't wish for something? Maybe a hand out of flesh, to feel what you are touching? A body to hold someone?"

Clinkz grip tightened and Luna cast a glance in his direction. The goddess was offering to give him a real body again but he was definitely hesitating.

"What is your price?"

"My price? Why would I want you to pay a price for that?" She didn't understand why he would ask such a question, but Luna did. He had told her how the price he would've had to pay to get his body back had been too high. And of course, when a mage wanted such a high price, why would a goddess do the same thing for nothing? "It is a gift, for the fighting you did in my name. And for the way you were protecting the elves and especially the Moon Rider. You don't have to pay anything else."

"You would just give me back my body? As a gift?" Clinkz sounded unbelieving.

"Yes, I would, but to be precise: it will not be your body as it was. I can let flesh form around your bones and give you the look of a man, but it will be different than how you looked before your curse. And I have to warn you: since some of the abilities you possess at the moment are linked to your skeletal form, like your invisibility and your burning arrows, they will vanish. Maybe that is the price you were asking about, but it is nothing I can change and I'm not sure someone else would be able to preserve this abilities. Are you willing to sacrifice those abilities for a body made of flesh?"

"Without another thought."

Now Luna turned to him. "Wait. Are you sure? You are such a great warrior because of those abilities and you said you have become used to being a skeleton. Maybe you should at least think about your decision."

His gaze focused on her. "There is nothing to think about. Since the first time I saw you in the war between the two towns I have wanted nothing more than to be a real man." He lifted his gloved hand. He placed his palm on her cheek, his thumb resting on her chin. "I wanted to be able to court you, to have the chance for you to notice me as a man. I wanted to touch your soft skin, and feel the warmth from you. To kiss your lips" he rubbed with his thumb over her lower lip and she instinctively parted her mouth, drawing his gaze to it. His voice became a little rough as he continued speaking. "I wanted to taste your mouth, to smell your hair and to feel your body. And I wanted you to look at me as if you wanted the same. I want to be more than a friend for you and as long as I'm a skeleton, I can't. So no, there is nothing to think about. I don't care about losing some of my abilities; I'm still the best archer even without them. But I will have the chance, since you already like me, to make you love me. Because I love you, Luna Moonfang."

Luna was completely speechless. Her body was thrumming softly, as if his words had made her come alive. And suddenly she also wanted nothing more than him to be a real man.

Clinkz dropped his hand and turned to the goddess again. "I won't be ugly, will I?"

The Goddess of the Moon laughed softly. "That would be most inconvenient to your pursuit, I assume. No, you won't be ugly. Though I am of the opinion it wouldn't matter as much as you might think. So you will take my reward for you?"

Clinkz nodded but Luna interrupted again. She wanted to say something before he changed, wanted him to know it wasn't linked to that change. Because he might wonder if she only felt that way because of his appearance and when _the Goddess_ made his body, it would definitely be breath-taking. "I… You won't have to make me love you, you know?" She fiddled with the glove on the hand she was holding while he was waiting for her to continue. She took a deep breath. She had thought it would be easy to say it, but it definitely took courage to look at him know. "I love you."

Clinkz just kept staring at her and Luna became nervous. She couldn't pick up any feelings from him and didn't know what he was thinking. Shouldn't she have said it? But it had felt so right!

His voice was rough with emotion. "Hell Luna, you really mean it. But I'm a skeleton!"

"What do I care how you look like?" She was frowning now. "It doesn't change who you are."

"Well, now that this is settled, let's begin, shall we?" The goddess Elune interrupted them, Her voice clearly showing Her delight. But She might have known from the beginning what they were feeling for each other, since She was a goddess.

"Bone Fletcher, you will have to let go of the hand you are grabbing, and you have to remove everything that is covering your body at the moment. Then come with me to the Moon Pond."

Clinkz gave her hand another squeeze, then he let go. When he had nothing covering his body he approached the Moon Pond. He looked strangely naked and disturbingly like a skeleton. The goddess gestured for him to step into the pond, where he turned to look at Luna again, who was still kneeing on the grass. She couldn't really believe that this was happening but, goddess help her, she was giddy with the prospect of Clinkz as a man.

The high priestess turned to Luna while the goddess began to wrap Clinkz in silvery light. "You might as well rise. This will take some time." After a short pause she continued. "I am glad you have found a companion. And someone so reliable, fierce, intent on your safety and friendly. You have my blessing."

Luna blinked a few times. This day was getting more awesome by the moment. "Thank you very much, your highness." A blessing from the high priestess was very special. Most pairs sought it out but not all of them got it.

The priestess turned towards the pond and Luna had nothing more to do but wait. Minutes turned to hours and it was fully dark by the time the Goddess of the Moon stopped whatever she had been doing. It was silent around the pond, not like in advance of the battle, but more like all life was sleeping. Luna had been tired but now the anticipation chased away all fatigue. She focused on the pond but didn't dare approach it without permission of the priestess or the goddess. Clinkz was still wrapped in the light that, together with the light coming from the goddess, illuminated the clearing. The Goddess Elune took a few steps back from the Moon Pond and spoke with soft voice.

"Bone Fletcher. The moon shines bright tonight. I bless you in Her name. May She guide you and give you strength. May her light be within you and love surround you. If you wish, you may join the guardians of the Nightsilver Woods as one of them and pledge yourself to my service. You are very welcome among us. Fare well."

And just as Clinkz took his first step out of the Moon Pond and the light around him faded, the Goddess of the Moon vanished. The high priestess turned around and left as well, giving Luna and Clinkz some privacy. Though the light around Clinkz and the one from the goddess were gone it wasn't dark. Elune had been right, the moon shone bright tonight and She cast a soft glow on everything Her light touched. The water in the pond glowed faintly as well so Luna, with her improved night vision, could see the man in front of the pond clearly. The only things that remained from his skeletal form were the horns on his head that curved to the front and the horned appendages on his chin.

He was lean but not skinny, the muscles he needed for his archery very defined on his arms, shoulders and his chest. His shoulders were not overly broad but not narrow either. He didn't look like a brute though his horns let him keep the fierceness to his look. His skin was light brown and his short, dark hair was tousled. He was completely naked and Luna let her gaze wander from his naked feet over his muscled thighs to his man part. She lingered a little there and then went on, over his flat stomach to his chest, his skin looking smooth and soft though his body looked firm and hard. At least she looked at his face, even now, in this form, with an unreadable expression. He was really beautiful but his firm mouth, his horns and his matter-of-fact expression gave him the little _something_ that made Luna's hands itch to touch him. In spite of this beauty he still looked like the warrior he was. And then he started to move forward and Luna's breath caught in her throat. As a skeleton his movements had looked fluent and she had been impressed how graceful he had been. But now, now he was like a cat stalking its prey, as he neared her. She stared at him, entranced by the play of his muscles, the moonlight casting a silvery glow on the brown skin. When he stood in front of her, his hair falling into his face, she could finally see his deep brown eyes, looking black now in the night, totally focused on her and her breath hitched. Her heartbeat had sped up when he had taken his first step towards her and now it drummed through her body.

She could still, like when he had been a skeleton, feel his emotions, when they were strong enough. And she felt his insecurity now. Goddess, how could he be insecure? He was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen! "You are breath-taking. Stunning. Goddess help me, you are unbelievably awesome." It was barely more than a whisper, as if Luna's voice wouldn't respond properly anymore. The tension left Clinkz' body and she could feel his smile. "Says the most beautiful woman in the world."

A breathless laugh. Then she bit her lip and, not able to contain herself any longer, raised her hand. She wanted to feel him, first to ensure herself he was real like that and second because she _needed_ to touch this smooth, brown skin of his.

Just like before, she stepped into the space where his horns framed her face and laid her hand on his cheek. Only this time, she could feel his warmth, the softness of him and his breath faintly on her face. She let her thumb stroke over his cheekbone, then she raised her other hand, framing his face.

His voice was rough when he spoke. "So you like how I look now?"

"Goddess, yes."

That must have been the last thing he had been waiting for, the last assurance he had needed, because now his hands started to move as well. He grabbed her waist and when he pulled her against him, their bodies connecting for the first time, he kissed her. His firm lips were surprisingly soft and felt unbelievably good. Luna buried one hand in his hair, which fell over her fingers, and with the other she grabbed his shoulder. She presser herself harder against Clinkz, wanting to feel as much of him as possible. She felt alive, her heart beating wildly in her chest, her body thrumming with energy. She knew she had loved him before, but now, with this gorgeous body of his, it wasn't platonic anymore and she had the sudden thought that she never wanted to let him go. She wanted to be with him all her life. And since it was a long life, they would have plenty of time.

The goddess had offered him to stay, to become a part of the guardians of the Nightsilver Woods. Now he just had to accept.

Breathing heavy, she stopped kissing and opened her eyes to see dark brown ones looking at her questioningly. "What is wrong?" So now his eyes, if not his face, could show his feelings. Luna shook her head. "Nothing wrong. I was just wondering if you would join the guardians of the Nightsilver Woods."

"I would like to, yes. If you want me to?" He seemed unsecure again. As if he still didn't know what she felt. And maybe he didn't. Maybe he couldn't believe that she would want that, so she would tell him. Every day or, if that wasn't enough and he had still doubts, every hour.

"Yes, I would like that." She looked deep into his eyes. "I love you."

She could feel the joy Clinkz felt with hearing those words. "I love you, too." He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. "You are amazing. I would've never dared to dream that a woman like you would love me one day. I will do everything for you, as long as I live. You only have to ask."

Luna was overwhelmed with emotion. Goddess help her, but she would never let that man go. And then she asked for the one thing she wanted from him.

"Will you stay with me?" Luna whispered, their foreheads still touching.

"Forever."


End file.
